Warring Enigma: Operation Fantasy Gate
by WarringEnigma
Summary: My name is Zach "ZR" Rayner. Via some unknown Cosmic Phenomena I find myself transported to another world, though in reality it's far complicated than that. Being a Cybernetically enhanced mercenary amongst a world of fantastical creatures of folklore and a seemingly medieval society...things are bound to get interesting.
1. Goblin Cave

Warring Enigma: Operation Fantasy Gate Chapter 1: Goblin Cave

A strange electrical static crackled in the background, barely perceptible under the thin threshold of consciousness. I felt the odd sensation of being suspended before a sudden plummet snapped me into a more awakened state, further emphasized by the crunch of my suit's armor contacting a hard surface.

"Son of a bitch." I cursed, temporarily shocked by the rude awakening. "Damn, that sucked."

Quickly regaining my bearings, I pushed myself off of the ground, brushing away whatever residue was left on me. I also did a quick check to see if my weapons were still on me; fortunately, they were. I did a quick analysis on myself, checking to see if I had any abnormalities in neural or bodily function. Though I felt fine, I wanted to see if anything suffered any extent of damage. As expected everything was performing normally, a 3-D projection from my UIT showed the full extent of my anatomy: Brain, heart, and all other organs as well as my cybernetic infrastructure. Seemed and also felt as if my vitals were fine, and the CACI unit integrated with my brain also displayed similar results in a window on my helmet's HUD. Everything looked to be good, though, there was an abnormal spike in synaptic activity which confused me. According to the data log, the timestamp indicated it occured recently, several minutes earlier actually. I made a scratching gesture over my helmet to express further confusion. What exactly happened prior?

Numerous questions aside, I took a moment to look around my surroundings. Initially, it was pitch dark and I couldn't see a damn thing, so I activated my helmet's night vision mode. There was a faint buzz before activation; I now had a better idea of where I was. Evidently, I seemed to be inside some kind of natural rock formation, a small cave of sorts. Didn't seem any different from any other normal cave, the MMC scanner showed composition similar to that of other ones present of Earth and other planets I've been to: Granite, Limestone as well Gypsum. The particular cave I was in appeared to be rather small, less than 700 sq meters in volume. Curiously, it didn't appear to have any points of egress or exits, well, that is until I looked upward. How the hell I managed to wind up down here was beyond me.

"Huh. Looks like I'll need to do some rock scaling." I said, monotone, slightly annoyed. "I fucking hate scaling. Unh, well here I go."

I did a brief scan of the rock formation above, and found an open area some 100 meters up. Shaking my head, I raised my left arm where my UIT was mounted, launching a grappling hook from a launcher fitted beneath the UIT. It gave a mechanical pop, the grapple hook whistled through the air before finding its mark, a metallic tink followed as it punched into the hard rock. Looking for a good spot to plant my boots, I got a decent foothold and started to rappel my way upwards, the titanium cables tighten slightly as I ascended. Interestingly, I began to pick up movement on the motion sensor, granted it was on the border of detection but I saw something anyway. While I climbed, I wondered what Genisys was thinking of my sudden, inexplicable disappearance; I could imagine he sent out a scouting team to search my last position based on my coordinates. Also imagined he'd continue with operations regardless, and I wouldn't want anything else. Needed to contact him after leaving this damn cave.

Only a little over a minute had passed before I was near the edge of the opening I spotted earlier. I held myself in place, taking a moment to pull the grapple from the rock, the metal cable tinking as it detracted. I placed both hands on the edge, pressing my boot into the rock using my leg strength to thrust myself up over. It looked like I was correct, as there was a tunnel that ran ahead. Before I went on, I pulled my primary weapon magnetically latched on the back of my armor; I wasn't sure if I'd be encountering anything in this cave but better I was armed and ready. With my ASIS ARM-11 assault rifle drawn, I continued on the move, scanning the tunnel as I went along. My motion sensor had a maximum range of 150 meters, which meant that whatever was detected had to be fairly deep in this cave system, admittedly, my motion sensor isn't always accurate at that range, and functions more optimally within 120 meters, and utilizes a network of seismograms to pick up movement, and the combination of the computer inside the UIT and my brain distinguished minute differences.

I covered a fair amount of distance despite my reserved pace, after some minor twists and turns I walked some 90 meters before I noticed an end of the tunnel I was in. I left the current tunnel I was in, and came into a much larger passageway, one direction was mostly just empty space and solid rock, however, in opposite direction there were several other points of egress to other areas of the cave system. I squinted my eyes, wondering if some form of fauna resided in these caves, and I had a feeling that was a likely possibility. In any case, my priority was to leave the cave, so I'd need to find a path that would leave to an exit. I took a moment on how to figure out a way to find that out without having to travel down all these passageways; it then occurred to me. Air was obviously presented down here, as oxygen levels were around a relatively amount, so I'd imagine even a slight change in density would signify I was getting closer to proximity to the surface. Considering I was closer to the core, or I supposed there was an active one, a dip in temperature would also aid in my decision.

I was about to go on, though I picked up movement again on the motion tracker, which was indicated by a yellow dot. Considering I didn't know the identity of whatever was picked up, I'd need a visual in order for the computer system to designate whether there was a threat or not. Soon later, the earphones inside my helmet which augmented my already enhanced hearing picked up sound coming from one of the tunnels. Unintelligible at first, the earphones did what they could to filter out unnecessary noise, I utilized the UIT to clear up any remaining sound and adjust the volume as well to optimal audio fidelity. Utilizing the computer to balance proper tempo, pitch, and rhythm.

At first I heard what sounded like the tapping of footsteps, and based on the different cadences and tone, it seemed there were multiple. Confused, I listened further; I didn't have to wait very long before I could begin to distinguish the sound of voices, of which there are several.

"Is there other humans in this cave system?" I asked myself. "Why would they be down here?"

Scientists? Soldiers? Just your ordinary joe? I wasn't sure who I was dealing with.

Waiting a little longer, I got a more clear audio feedback and was able to distinguish 4 individuals: one male and three females. I didn't think much of their conversation, but based on what they were saying they didn't seem to be on a research trip or professional soldiers on a mission, though I'd be hard pressed to say they were regular civilians. Monk? Priestess? Wizard? Sage Academy? Adventurer? And most confusingly ...Goblins?

I contorted a face of disbelief and shook my head. With that I continued to listen in to see if I could triangulate their position, and make an estimation of the direction that they were traveling from. As I was searching for where their voices were most clean and consistent, I picked up more sound, albeit much less clear than the individual's voices. Initially, it was difficult to make out but from what I could hear, it was vaguely animalistic and guttural; I wouldn't say human but it certainly wasn't a normal mammalian creature. Almost catching me by surprise, the voices of the individual's became much more tense and defensive, almost like they encountered something. At this point I debated whether to activate my cloak, find their exact location and backtrack from where they travelled. I know it sounded callous and cowardly, I hated the thought of that despite the logic in it. Not so much for my safety as I was more than equipped to handle myself without issue, but I ultimately wanted to maintain my existence on a need to know basis, or more precisely, never to be known at all.

While I contemplated, the audio on the other side erupted with heavy breathing and panicked exchanges. I heard various metal tinks, and something wet splattering; I even heard the sound of flames cracking rather loudly. Wondering what the hell was going on, I heard other noises among the shouting and incursion, it was indeed another creature, humanoid guttural screeches and cackles. Still reluctant, I decided to move on and check for myself, and if I was going to be honest I was curious to see what exactly was inside these caves. I shook my head, beginning to somewhat regret my decision, however, I went through with it anyway. From my UIT, I activated my cloak and kicked up dirt.

"I hope this isn't a waste of time" I muttered, somewhat scolding myself. "May as well figure out what I'm dealing with."

In a much more urgent pace, I frequently looked around me to each of the different tunnels to see which one had the noise at the most clarity. Fortunately, I did a little more observation of the ground beneath me, of which I scanned over. I found tracks that the individuals left behind, and highlighted them, a bright neon green represented them. I briefly traced them to the direction they originated, a passageway further down some 70 meters from my position. I could just leave and get myself off this planet, however, my conscience got the better of me. I mentally cursed to myself before proceeding to a passageway to my 3 0'Clock, 90 meters down from me. The raucous continued to escalate as from how it sounded, and it was long before I picked up movement from not only the individuals but something else as well. With the nature of the situation, the individuals were designated a green color coding and the source of movement was designated red as a possible hostile.

Right away I could tell the tunnel I was in had much less room to maneuver, barely 5 meters of space and some of that was compacted space that something could easily hide and ambush unwary passersby. Did these idiots even bother to check their surroundings, let alone planning ahead to make sure the site was clear? Why were they even down here anyway? Then again I could also ask myself that. Before I proceed further, some form of decoration caught my attention. I stopped for a moment to examine it, it looked to be an epitaph of some kind of which was comprised of the skull of an unknown horned creature mounted on a wooden pole with five bone tied together behind it, 5 rings tied with a string dangled from each end of the upper horizontally positioned bones. Banners with intersecting red diamonds and triangles on a white background hung directly below the skull. An ornate necklace decorated it as well. This obviously wasn't a sign of welcome, whatever lived here would most certainly be hostile.

More screams and other guttural noises from the presumed creatures caught my attention. I hauled ass through the tunnel again, a noticeable glow radiated further down, undoubtedly from whatever light source they were using. I was about to make a turn around the tunnel when I heard their voices.

"Dammit! There is so many of these bastards! Where do they keep coming from?!" a male voice shouted, presumably young.

"Likely further down the tunnel from another cave somewhere." said a young woman.

"In hindsight it would have been a good idea to scout out the area first" another female spoke, rather faintly and sheepishly.

"Yeah. Kinda obvious now!" retorted another.

Some 15 meters from me I could spot the four individuals though much of their appearances were obstructed by the horde of little green creatures surrounding them.

_What are those little green bastards? Wait...are these goblins? What in the actual fuck? Am I seriously seeing this? I have way too many questions._

"I-I don't think we can hold them off! We need to run." urged a young girl, again in a sheepish and submissive tone.

"Come on, have faith. My sword is made of hardened steel and sharp as can be!" said the boy, clearly struggling to fight off the creatures. The metal of his sword tinks as it hits a wall. "Oh crap."

Another girl appears to display a commendable degree of hand to hand combat skills as she delivers hefty hits to the green humanoid creatures with punches and kicks. However it appears she might be overwhelmed soon.

One of the other females in the group, a red-haired girl wearing a brown wizard hat and cloak wielded some kind of staph and chanted strange and unknown phrases.

"Sageta Inflamera Radius." she chanted, as a goblin approached her and began to leap. "FIREBALL!" the moment she spoke, she thrusted out her arms and raised her staph, a large fireball launched through the air penetrating the goblin before it reached, completely engulfing it in flames. "HA! I got one!"

As she exclaimed triumphantly and before she could let loose another attack, several more goblins grabbed her.

I shook my head, and tensed my grip on my assault rifle, almost in anger. While the party was clearly about to get over run, I decided to let loose and demonstrate what an elite cybernetic mercenary can do. I could feel a smirk creep in and my teeth gritted. Time to let loose.

In a furious burst of speed, I bolted past a young blonde girl which had already collapsed in defeat, she didn't seem to notice me. I utilized a combination of psionic emission to remotely slam the goblins that were in my way against the tunnel walls, splatting them into red mist; I punched or swiped away any that got too close. There was some distance between me and another group of goblins, several other ones already managed to grab hold of the redhead and knock her over. I must have killed eight so far, and that number would only climb. Squeezing the trigger, I fired off my ARM-11, letting loose controlled bursts in rapid session; I aimed for the torso or head region, however, the 8mm FMJs proved to be far more effective then I thought as the goblins practically exploded upon being hit. Killing all six that were between me, I reloaded, and proceeded to kill the four goblins that had incapacitated the redhead girl, which were in the process of ripping apart her clothing. Several bursts blew apart, instantly killing the assaulters. The girl looked utterly petrified but seemed okay otherwise.

"Gah! Monsters! Dirty green little bastards I'll kill you all!" shouted the boy in a heated and angered demeanor. He swung his sword around in an amateurish, reckless manner, only barely hitting some goblins in his path.

"Would you stop swinging that thing around!" said a brown haired girl, scolding her male companion as he narrowly missed her. "I can't get close!"

He gestured for her to remain behind him, as he fruitlessly swung his sword aside in an effort to keep the goblins at bay or to strike a hit.

"Stay back! Go and protect the others. I'll keep them busy!" he urged, his behaviour admirable but foolish.

Noting his posture, as he was about to strike another goblin and charge the others, I pushed him aside, which probably confused the hell out of him. Temporarily putting away my assault rifle, I extended my arm out and primed the flamethrower module fitted into my UIT. In seconds, I unleashed a torrent of flames, the blue flames incinerated everything within the 60 degree cone. Intense flame crackle and hissed, almost drowning out the chorus of agonized goblin screams and screeches. Once I no longer saw any movement on the motion tracker from the goblins, I ceased my infernal housing. As residual flames crackled and charred carcasses popped, I noticed how effective my flamethrower was. 1000 degree celsius heat, caused the contracted rock to become molten and created a hazardous area of magma for 40 meters down the tunnel.

Aside from the flames, the area was silent, at least for now. Momentarily, I remained in place; I could feel puzzled and shocked gazes directed at my position, though they almost certainly didn't know I was actually present.

"Wh-What was that? What the hell happened?" said the male, confused and equally shocked.

"I-I don't know. I was fighting off goblins, and I just saw a bunch of them dying around me!" said the brown haired girl.

"Jeez. The lot of them were completely blown apart."

"Yeah. And the ones ahead of us are engulfed in flames." she uttered, shocked.

"Uh. Wizard Girl...did you do this?" the boy asked.

There was a short pause, groaning as she seemed to get up.

"I-I killed one. But I got overwhelmed, and they knock me over." she replied. "Why you ask?

"A whole bunch of goblins ahead of us are on fire."

"Wait. What?"

While the other three exchanged confused chatter, the blonde girl I passed earlier seemed to have gotten back on her feet. I heard her gradual, almost hesitant footsteps.

"Oh. Priestess? Are you okay?" asked the brown haired girl, I assumed.

"Also. Did you see anyone?"

She took a moment before speaking up.

"I-I didn't see anyone" she spoke quietly, taking another brief pause. "B-but I did, or, I thought I heard footsteps."

"I see. But there isn't anyone here." he replied, his not necessarily harsh though somewhat dismissive. "Are you sure you're not hearing things."

"Hey!" she shot back. "So you said, you heard footsteps?"

"Um-um. Yes, I think." she said.

"Do you know what they sounded like?"

"Sort of. They were quick and extremely faint." she replied. "I could barely make out a subtle metal clank and-and a bizarre buzzing sound."

"Huh. Strange."

"Yea"

"Now what? I mean were safe for the moment. Somehow." the boy said. "But we still have the rest of the goblins in the cave."

"Are you kidding me? We were nearly overrun! We almost died!" said the red-haired girl. I presumed.

"Erm. She's right, but, I can't help but agree with warrior." said the black-haired girl. "Hey Priestess? What do you think we should do?"

A long silence reigned for some time before the pitter-patter of light footsteps broke it. It was more than apparent that they were heading in my direction.

"Uh. Priestess? What exactly are doing?" the boy asked.

She didn't seem to respond and continued her way towards me. I didn't turn around, only barely looking over my shoulder. I anticipated her footsteps and noted her movement on the motion sensor. A few seemingly long seconds passed before she finally seemed to halt her movement.

_Is she aware I'm here? No, however she might be driven by intuition and instinct. _I thought.

I heard her swallow nervously, and weakly clear her throat.

"Uh-um. I don't know exactly, if there is someone here. But whatever the case. I-I." she spoke, stuttering at the end of her sentence. "I wanted to thank you."

After she said that, I imagined the rest of her companions were probably utterly puzzled and though she was nuts. I found it somewhat humorous.

"Uh. Priestess? Are you okay? Because you know, um." said the boy, baffled. "There's nothing there."

"Heh. Yeah. Maybe you're just seeing things." said the black-haired girl.

"No. Uh, I mean, I can feel it." she quickly replied. "Also there is something strange with the air in front of me. It looks ...distorted."

"Distorted? What do ya mean?"

Noting her companions puzzled expressions, I looked to the petite girl herself. She had her face mostly downward, though, it did appear she was just as confused and also possibly even more nervous. She lifted her face a little more, and displayed a worn, fearful look; most notably were the tears streaming from her face. If it wasn't clear already, she was obviously traumatized and terrified. Normally, I was emotionally repressed and distressed from civilians was something that didn't yield any response from me. I don't know but there was something about her that had me empathetic; I actually felt pretty bad for her, maybe was her innocence. Also probably just that she was rather diminutive and terrified. I felt compelled to throw her a bone, even if I internally disagreed. Genysis certainly wouldn't approve.

"Oh come on. She's clearly crazy!" said the red-haired girl, in an accusatory tone, also evidently frazzled. "There's nothing there!"

"Hey!"

While the others continued their exchanges, I noticed the little blonde girl was about to cry again, which inexplicably felt compelling enough to shine light on her initiation. Shaking my head in further disapproval, I turned around and faced the group that was initially behind me, as well as the little blonde girl. Referring to my UIT I deactivated the LRS module and disconnected. The cloak give a subtle warble as it disappeared. My sudden reveal had the group with their jaws practically on the floor. Especially the little blonde girl who jumped back slightly upon seeing me. I deactivated my night vision as well.

"Wh-who, or what are you?!" asked the boy, who looked like he was about to shit himself.

"Are you even human?" the black haired girl asked, her face not as notably expressive but her bodily posture signified she was also certainly stunned.

I didn't respond and looked directly to the little blonde haired. She was evidently terrified and shocked, also further emphasized by her shaking and a noticeable stain on the lower portion of her robe. She clearly soiled herself during the fray. That honestly made feel even worse.

Clutching her staff tightly, she slowly approached me with her face downward, as she was evidently too nervous to look directly at me. She walked a few paces before stopping a surprisingly close meter from me.

"Um. Are you, um…...the one who killed those goblins?." she asked, her face still downward and still very much nervous.

I nodded in response before speaking. "Yes"

As expected the others gasped in surprise, as well as their eye widening in response. The little blonde girl was much the same, lifting her face to look directly at me this time.

"Oh." she replied, beginning to tear up again. "Thank you."

I nodded, not saying anything in response. Admittedly, that felt kinda good, but I maintained a professional demeanor.

"Um...are you human?" asked the blonde girl. "Sorry"

I nodded. Honestly, that made me want to laugh. Admittedly, I did look rather robotic with how complex the armor plating of my suit was, nevermind the electrical components and my weapons. I think the solid, almost unbroken design of my helmet further emphasized that.

"If it weren't for you we would all be dead." said the blonde girl, quietly.

Nodding, I noticed the others began to approach though still noticeably reluctant. Their looks said it all, they were completely baffled and awed by my setup. They clearly hadn't seen someone like me before, and obviously not my tech either. Which now that I thought about, actually began to confuse me. These individuals looked nothing like researchers or soldiers, hell, they didn't even have regular civilian attire. Were they even from any of the colonies?

"Who are you?" asked the black haired girl.

"No one worth noting. My identity is on a need to know basis." I replied.

"What does that mean?" asked she replied.

"It means it is of no concern." I said

If I was going to be honest, I really didn't intend to stick around and play twenty questions. Was already getting somewhat antsy.

"So why are you down here?" asked the red haired girl.

"Yea. Well ...aside from saving us of course." said the black haired girl.

I took a moment to think of a response. I wasn't exactly sure how they'd react to me saying I didn't intend to come down to this cave, and inexplicably found myself awakening here. Also considering their antiqual attire, I found it difficult to assume they were from any of the main colonies. Whatever they were doing, it seemed there outdated equipment did them no good, I mean they literally using swords or their bare fists. The red head did use some form pyrokinetic ability, albeit it didn't appear seamless or even all that convenient as she seemed to chant a phrase in order to use it. Regardless, it could prove to be useful, even if I couldn't exactly describe what it was or how it actually worked. I sure as hell was hard-pressed to call it 'Magic'

"It's complicated." I said, monotone.

The group aside from the blonde girl, looked to another in a debating manner. I honestly saw where this was going.

"We could use some like you." said the boy

"Yeah. Someone of your caliber and equipment would prove invaluable." chimed the red-headed girl.

"Are you seriously going to ask him that after he just saved us?" replied the black haired girl.

"That shouldn't be an issue, someone like him should have no problem clearing these caves of goblins and finishing this mission." said the boy, who was clearly reinvigorated. "And we'll help!"

"I think that's up to him." she replied.

I cocked my head slightly in confusion and somewhat curious.

"What exactly are a bunch like you doing down here?" I asked

"We're here to slay goblins and rescue some damsels in distress!" said the boy, energetically.

Ignoring him, I looked to the black-haired lass who seemed more composed.

She cleared her throat. "We were sent from the Adventurer's guild." she said. "We chose a mission, in which detailed clearing the caves of goblins that previously attacked a village. They stole some supplies and livestock, as well as kidnapping some of the local girls."

"We're all currently porcelain ranked, as were new and just joined the guild." said the wizard girl. "We want to earn some money and build some reputation in order to elevate in the ranks."

I wasn't exactly sure what they are talking about, I never heard of this adventurer's guild or exactly what it was but I wasn't in the mood for continuous irrelevant questions. Regardless, I took in what they were saying and thought of a response. I needed to get outside to contact Genisys, however, I still felt some kind of responsibility to get them out safely. I debated whether or not tell them to run off and head back but considering how deep these tunnels went and the amount of these bastards had attacked, I imagined there was likely a lot more further inside.

"Hmm." I said, still contemplative.

"Gggh. Come on, you saw what they did to us earlier!" said the wizard girl, pouting.

"Hey now! That's no way to ask for his help." retorted the black haired girl. "Show some gratitude."

While they bickered, I took a short moment to examine each of their outfitting and see what I could make out about them. Most of them were woefully unprepared and ill-equipped for this kind of mission. The only one who was somewhat armed was the young lad, who wore some form modest protection in the form of a simple metal breastplate, and carried a longsword which clearly wasn't meant for tight spaces such as this cave. Both the priestess and wizard girl possessed a staff, though I couldn't imagine them using it as it appeared mostly ornate and evidently not made for regular combat. The rest of the bunch also wore rather conventional attire that offered zero protection.

"So? What do you say pal?" asked the boy, his face expressing some kind of expectant response.

I squinted my eyes while looking at him, finding his cheery tone somewhat questionable and demeaning. That kind of behaviour wasn't befitting for this scenario, especially considering it nearly cost him his life, along with reckless action. Though despite that, I respected his willingness and ambition to at least travel out here, even if it was idiotically planned.

"Your assistance would be a godsend," said the black haired girl. "But it's ultimately your decision."

Spending a moment looking at her, ponderously, I turned my attention to the others who were restless and anxious to hear my response. Lastly, I then focused on the blonde girl, whom was known as priestess; she had her face turned slightly in apparent shyness and equally measured nervousness. Their desperation was evident, and it almost reeked, and considering how they handled themselves, they would likely die if they either tried leave or go further into the caves. I wanted to figuratively, and literally facepalm. In any case, may as well finish what I started.

"Does-does...that mean you'll help us?" asked the priestess girl, in suppressed sheepish demeanor. "Please."

I lowered my head and shook slightly, sighing. "Fine"

Upon hearing me say that, the group jumped up and cheered. Along with them, the priestess also jerked slightly, widening her eyes, surprised that I agreed to help them with their mission.

"Th-Thank you...sir" squeaked the priestess, her eyes glistening as she seemed on the brink of tears.

I rolled my eyes underneath my helmet. "Come on. Regain composure." I said, sternly. "I'll need you to focus."

"Oh...I-I'm sorry." she replied, sniffling and rubbing her eyes.

"Anyway." I spoke again, looking at the entire group. "If were going to want to perform optimally. I'll need to know your capabilities."

They all briefly exchanged looks before one of them started to speak.

"Well. I did some combat training, mostly with the sword." said the boy, raising his sword in demonstrative manner. "I'm a warrior adventurer."

"Yes you are." I retorted, subtly mocking him. "How long anyway."

"Oh. Uh...about a month or so." he replied, his demeaning diminishing slightly.

I shook my head. I then turned to the black haired girl, wearing an almost form-fitting combination robes and pants. Her heavy boots clearly meant to emphasis the impact her kicking. Evidently, she prioritized mobility and offense over defense and protection.

"How about you?" I asked.

She took a few steps towards me, and made several gestures and bodily motions, mostly emphasizing her legs.

"I'm a fighter. My father taught me various forms of martial arts." she said, rather confidently. "I primarily focus on kicking techniques."

"Unarmed combat. Seems like a combination of Taekwondo and Muay thai" I replied, rather impressed. "You certainly show some potential. I understand you focus on being lightweight and flighty, and that's good. However, you should invest in some form of protective gear. A breast plate won't hurt and some elbow and knee pads. You'll be vulnerable to swords or arrows."

"Oh. Okay...I'll see what I can do." she said, somewhat taken aback.

Nodding, I then turned to the wizard girl. Admittedly, I almost cringed when I saw her attire, which was severely torn and exposed some of her form. She wore an outfit consisting of dark robes partially obscured by a brown cloak held in place by an ornate gem, and a large point hat. In her right hand she carried a staph comprised of four crescent shaped fins with a red diamond shaped gem embedded at the top. On her feet were boots that looked more aesthetic than practical.

"And you, Female Harry Potter?" I asked, monotone with a subtle amount of humor. "Nevermind that."

With evident confusion on her face, she disregarded the notion and cleared her throat.

"I'm a wizard. I graduated from the Sage's Academy in the capital." she replied, her face mostly expressionless but her tone radiated confidence. "I graduated at the top of my class in both written and practical forms of the Sage techniques."

Standing there, cocking my head in confusion, I contemplated on exactly what the hell she was even talking about. I understood she was a wizard but wasn't completely sold on whether I thought her supposed abilities were even applicable. Guess I'd let her explain it to me.

"I see. What exactly are the "Sage Arts"?" I asked, now somewhat curious. "What are the extent of your...abilities?"

Her face contorted to that of utter surprise, then annoyance. Apparently, I was some kind of degenerate that lived under a rock after I asked that.

"What? Y-you aren't aware of the Sage Arts!" she retorted, her tone reeking of condescending dismissiveness. "Each and every one of the king's most renowned advisors were masters in the Sage Arts! Do you live under a rock or something?!"

The others gestured her to dial down her irate, condescending behavior. She responded by crossing her arms in a pouting manner.

Slightly annoyed by her ill disposition, I disregarded what she said and continued my questioning. So far I wasn't what I called impressed and her attitude and arrogance would only reinforce my suspicions of capability. For now I'd just bare along.

"In terms of offensive application?" I asked, my tone neutral. "What are the extent of your abilities? What can you do?"

A mixture of vexation and anger was expressed on her face. Also a bit of confusion as well.

"I am well versed in three basic incantations and spells- Flame, Gust, and Force - and I can cast the healing technique as well." She said, a glare seemingly sent to priestess.

"And while it's true, the Sage Arts might not be as potent as most priests miracles, my reserves are not as limited to the what the deity deems sufficient. Provided I enough mana, I will be able to fight." she finished, huffing and giving me a small glare.

I gave a slight nod in acknowledgement. To be frank, I still wasn't entirely comprehending how her abilities actually worked or how I could properly utilize them in a combat scenario. These so called spells or incantations weren't something I could fully wrap my head around. Magic itself wasn't a concept that I that I didn't understand in of itself, but how it actually functioned seemingly defied any natural laws or logic. In any case, I guess I'd need to gain some understanding.

"I see." I replied, my mind contemplative. I acknowledged the fact that we were in a cave, and considering the limited space there was, I wasn't certain as to how her respective abilities could be applied. "So- Flame, Gust, and Force huh? I think I have a good idea how those might work."

"Uh-um. W-what about me?" quietly asked the priestess girl.

I turned to her, nodding slightly. "Ah yes. Go ahead . Apologies."

The priestess girl widened her eyes slightly, straightening her posture, and more firmly grasping her ornate staff.

"I-I have been trained to implement the miracles of the Earth Mother in the Temple. I c-can cast, um, Holy Light, and Minor heal." said priestess, pausing for a moment trying to gather her composure. "H-Holy Light can, um, blind people or also act as a substitute light source when t-there is none. A-and can minor heal light injuries." she explained, nervously stuttering in between her sentences.

From what I heard her explain, she apparently also possessed her own form of paranormal abilities, or "Magic". Clearly "Holy Light" wasn't going to be of any real use considering my Helmet had high-grade night vision, and a powerful halogen-based light built into the right side, as well as various degrees of infrared and ultraviolet settings. Not to mention, the lad also carried a torch with him. Which then, came down to something called "Minor Heal", and while it's likely it wouldn't fix any truly serious or mortal wounds, it could still be a viable means heal and prevent further injuries that might otherwise progress. Unfortunately all of the medical supplies I do have would be on my ship, and I don't normally carry any to begin with as the combination of my nanites, particle barrier, and armor were almost always reliable. Besides, anytime I heard anything to deal with the word "Holy", I'd roll my eyes. I had a healthy disdain for anything that might be vaguely religious. Despite that, I wouldn't say anything.

"So we have a swordsman, a martial artist, a wizard." I said, initially directing my eyes to each of the first three teenagers. And then finally to the priestess, who was barely maintaining her composure. "And last but not least, um, a priestess."

Now that I thought about it, I just realized I hadn't heard any of the four refer to each other with any actual names. That was rather bizarre since I actually thought about it. Anyway, I guess it didn't matter for now.

While I was still in my little thought bubble, I snapped myself out as I noticed the warrior was waving to get my attention.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Um. I know this was asked earlier but you never mentioned what you are or what you actually do." he asked, then gestured to his teammates. "I mean we all have our classes."

His companions exchanged nods then looked back to me.

"Yea. What are you anyway?." questioned the fighter girl. "With all respect."

Wizard girl followed with an inquisitive squint, pushing up her glasses before speaking.

"Are you a soldier of some kind, because your armor and weapons are unlike anything we've seen before." she said, her subtle gaze of interrogation bore into me.

Standing there, I looked to each of the inquisitive teenagers, contemplating on what I wanted to say. Seemed every aspect of my presence and tech that were noticed would only continue to further complicate an already strange situation. Genysis' input would be something I'd be looking forward to. For the meantime, I'd do what was deemed necessary while remaining mostly obscure. However, it was also likely they just wanted something to call me just so I could be identified. Guess I could oblige.

"Formerly." I replied. "I'm something akin to a military contractor."

"Oh. What is that? Is that like a mercenary or something?" asked warrior.

I nodded. "Something like that. Though I don't necessarily work for money." I replied.

After exchanging puzzled looks, the group turned their attention back to me. It was the wizard girl that spoke up this time.

"If money isn't what your after, then what is it your purpose?" she asked, more so out of curiosity then demeaning inquiry. "I don't recall the Adventurer's Guild having mercenary as an optional class. Most of the soldiers or mercenaries are hired by the monarchy."

I spent time thinking about that. In actuality money or any form of monetary reward was the last thing I needed. If I needed supplies I'd just raid enemy bases, usually any that belonged to WarCorp, or I'd simply gather the required materials and craft my own. Save for the "mental conflict", my only real goal for much of the time was to become versed in all the scientific fields necessary that would help me adapt more efficiently and to also search for and obtain all forms of advanced technology, whether man-made or exterrestrial in origin. I had no true allies and if I were to maintain optimal functionality, I'd need to remain under the radar. Even if it meant taking extreme measures. I'd refrain from divulging any delicate information.

"It's complicated." I replied, coldly.

Looks of concern and contemplation contorted on the young adventurers faces. They were clearly unsure what to do or say next. As I expected the boy decided to speak.

"So, uh, how about we call you Mercenary? Or Merc." suggested warrior.

I shrugged, in indifference. "Works for me."

"Well-Alright! Let's go then!" exclaimed the warrior, getting into a battle stance.

Wizard girl cleared her throat getting everyone's attention. "Uh. There's one slight problem." she said, gesturing her staff ahead of us. "That part of the tunnel is still smoldering with molten rock. If we want to get to the nest at the end, we'll need to find a way over it." her gaze turned to me, a small but noticeable glare contorted on her face.

"That's true. It could take hours for all that molten rock to cool and harden." said the fighter girl, coughing a little.

Acknowledging the dilemma, I cringed slightly while looking at the all the melted rock, smoking and crackling with intense heat. Pretty evident I had gotten somewhat carried away, as I honestly did enjoy frying those little green boogers. I took a second to figure out how I wanted to go about this, and it then occurred to me. I moved from my position and gestured for the others to follow me, aside from the Wizard girl.

Her eyes followed as she shot a puzzled look. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Stopping a few paces behind her, I pointed to her staff. "Remember those incantations you said you could do?" I said, gesturing to her. "Here's your first chance to demonstrate."

"Oh. Which one do you want me to cast?" she asked, looking at me expectantly.

I made a cycling motion with my pointer finger. "_Show me gust._" I replied. Admittedly, I wasn't expecting to see much but I was curious nonetheless.

As though thinking for a moment, she nodded, pushing up her glasses as to display readiness. Turning towards the molted area of the tunnel, she paused for a moment as though concentrating. She appeared to twirl the staff, chanting something as she did so, the red gem crystal embedded at the top then inexplicably began to vibrate and glow, a similarly colored radiance soon emanated. I felt a strange sensation as she spoke, m eyes slowly beginning to widen.

"** _Gust" _ **

Immediately afterward, a surprisingly large and powerful gust of wind inexplicably manifested from the staff. Air howled as it blew away the smoke and whatever corpses remained, extinguishing the orange embers and glow of the molten rock. The rocks creaked as the wind whistled down the tunnel. That wind velocity was clocked in at a 100mph. As she did that I could barely make out what sounded as if were a chorus of other voices overlapping and speaking along with the girl's own. A little thing I found peculiar.

The rest of her group stared in awe, clearly unaware of the full extent of her abilities as I was. Little boy warrior evidently was the most taken aback, akin to a caveman discovering fire, watching the display then shooting a look at the wizard girl. Her posture indicated that had taken a small toll on her, but otherwise appeared fine and mostly composed.

"Woah. That's incredible." said the boy, his mouth agape.

Externally I remained mostly expressionless, I at the moment was predominantly in train of ponder as I attempted to contemplate on how exactly she managed to create a nearly perfect natural phenomena by twirling a simple staff and uttering a few phrases. Technology was always the thing I logically came to but the design of that staff didn't seem to suggest that. I hated to admit it but I was completely stomped. Despite the strange mechanism through which it operated, I was legitimately impressed.

Other thoughts began to creep in. If her abilities functioned like she explained them, and she was only a novice, as well as their being others with similar capabilities I wondered how the organizations would go about something like this. I guess it would depend on who came across them first, if the Unified Colonial Governments and ICAS found them then things likely wouldn't change too much, well, at least not initially. However, I don't imagine anything good coming from any of the criminal organizations or private military syndicates, especially with the kind of historical aggression like WarCorp has had. Regardless of discovery by whomever, I think it'd be safe to say things would turn nasty.

I casted my extra thoughts aside and focused back on wizard girl. "Promising showing" I commented, with a slight rise in intrigue. "I may ask of you to showcase your other abilities as we proceed further."

Her face read as mostly expressionless, instead nodding as to acknowledge the comment. She fully turned, along with the rest of the group turning their attention to me as though wanting for the next step.

"So. Mercenary? What's our next move?" asked the warrior, evidently anxious and ready for battle. The others exchanged nods of agreement.

Acknowledging them, I spent a moment to formulate an optimal squad formation. I'd act as buffer and support role, while the others would use each of their skill sets in coordination to eliminate the goblins.

In reality, I could very easily just storm the cavern and kill every one of the goblins in any number of ways such as- Running in and shooting them all, utilizing psionic emission to remotely grab and smash them into the walls, lighting them ablaze with my flamethrower module, or even just simply ripping them apart with my bare fists or stabbing with my combat knife. Considering I typically encounter other paramilitaries with sophisticated weaponry, and all kinds of deadly extraterrestrial wildlife of varying sizes, and even hyper advanced alien warriors on the rare occasion, I think I was a little overqualified. Suffice it to say, these goblins may as well have been ants to me. Guess then I found the role being an instructor somewhat amusing.

Using my left hand I pointed to Warrior. "You and little miss Priestess will form up behind me." I said, gesturing to them. I then turned to Fighter and Wizard Girl. "The two of you cover our rear." I looked to everyone once they were in their designated positions. "Remember to play to your strengths and protect each other's weaknesses. Remain as a cohesive unit. _Do Not Over _extend ourselves and most importantly _Do Not _let your guard down. I'll act as a buffer, and should you need it, I'll provide assistance."

In response, the youthful team of adventurers nodded, their faces now serious and their postures becoming rigid with readiness, I briefly focused on Priestess who was still a tad apprehensive. I gave her a small nod as to calm her, which seemed to work as she became a little more composed or to the degree she was able. Before we went, I looked down at my ARM-11, moving it around as I clutched it; I contemplated whether or not to keep it in hand or holster it, as it would be convenient to have it drawn for quick response. Thinking back earlier, I only now recall how loud the shots were when I fired, especially considering much more compact these caves were. I honestly didn't think about it at the time, because I'm so used to the sound, and of course it helped my helmet's earphones dampened much of the harmful sound. I'm rather surprised they didn't say anything about it. Without much more thought I extended my arm over to the backplate, the weapon clicked as it magnetically latched on. In any case, I still could rapidly grab it or draw my magnum instead. The anti-material rifle would obviously be out of the question, considering how unwieldy it would be and a weapon like that would almost certainly cause deafness in close quarters such as this.

_Oops _I thought

"Are you ready?" I asked, glancing at the group.

They all nodded in return, maintaining their ready postures.

"Good"

I waved my hand in a forward gesture, and we began to move. Initially as we advanced, there were some minor scrambling and the Priestess nearly bumped into me trying to pace herself with the rest of the group; we didn't take long before a decent cadence was found. Warrior's wooden torch seemed to provide a decent enough light source for the area it covered, but beyond that was completely dark and difficult to make out. Via neural impulse receptors, I activated the light built into my helmet, sending a brilliant beam of light down the pathway, completely illuminating everything within the 20 meter cone. I noted a surprised gasp come from Warrior, either from the light or possibly because he nearly tripped himself (_Probably the latter)_

I did a brief scan on the recently molted area of rock, getting a read of 68 degrees Celsius, or 154 degrees Farenhiet. It was an expected result, as even the force of the gust wouldn't generate cold enough temperatures to fully cool off the rock. Even then it was safe enough to pass over with proper foot protection. I glanced over briefly to see if anyone was showing any form of discomfort, they did display a small degree of some, mostly due to the hot air which was still rather unpleasant. Other then that, they hadn't complained and remained calm. I was impressed.

Marching at a cautious but steady pace, I continuously surveyed the walls of the cave tunnel, shining a bright light on whatever I was currently looking at, while also referring to the motion sensor for anything that might escape my sight. Anything that might have been detected on the motion sensor that was behind us, I could also quickly react to, but I was also confident in Fighter and Wizard girl's ability to protect the rear. Warrior would need to resort to H2H combat or stabbing, and Priestess, well ...she could also just beat the shit out of any with her staff that might flank us. Even though that would be extremely unlikely. Amusing thought anyway.

Several minutes had passed, so far we met with zero resistance, and I didn't see anything within immediate sight or detect anything on the motion tracker, neither did I hear any of the teenagers say anything. I'd imagine the main cavern had to be pretty far down, otherwise I would have picked something up.

"How close do you think we are to the cavern?" asked the warrior, his voice unintentionally louder than it should have been.

I turned my head around, the others _shushing _him to keep quiet. He face contorted into a guilty expression, quickly recorrecting his mistake, and speaking no further. Expecting no further accidental talking, I turn my attention forward again.

Some short time later, I started to detect movement on the motion tracker. About 20 meters down the pathway, I shined my light on another hole along the right side of the tunnel. According to the motion sensor, there looked to be six points of movement, each initially a yellow, as they were yet to be designated a threat or non-threat; I obviously knew full well they were goblins, and the data showed they were vibrations created by something of that size. I continued to move towards the hole until we were about 5 meters away.

I raised my hand to give a stopping gesture. Surprisingly, most of them understood, except for Priestess, who probably wasn't paying attention and nearly bumped into (_again). _I widened my eyes slightly, stepping back before she would contact.

Priestess immediately realized this, and quickly stopped herself. "Oh. I-I'm so-so s-sorry." she said, quietly, apologizing profusely.

I temporarily shut off my light as it was blinding everyone. And then faced Priestess, looking at her more in concern then annoyance. Wizard girl, of course, wasn't above that and shut her a glare.

"Don't apologize and just watch where you're going." I muttered, calmly. "Trust me you wouldn't want to bump into me. Or my particle barrier might cause you second degree burns." _I almost immediately wanted to facepalm after I said that. Why'd I let that slip?_

My team exchanged mixed expressions of surprise and confusion- _fortunately they didn't ask further._ Priestess just gave me her signature nervous visage, and was also a little shocked. Everyone then stood there wondering why we halted. It was apparent by the expressions on their faces, that they wanted to speak up but decided against it.

"Hold here. I'll scout ahead." I quietly spoke. Instructing the others to stay behind. "This won't take long."

Reaching for my left shoulder pad, I grabbed hold of the handle, the specialized custom made rubber provided an excellent grip; I briefly placed my thumb over a sensor which deactivates the magnetic locks, the metal tinked as I pulled out the knife from the upward facing holster. I looked at the 10in graphene covered blade as I approached the cave entrance, ambient light from the torch caused the sliver of the titanium alloy blade to reflect a lustrous sheen. It was quite...nice.

Having walked to the entrance of the tunnel, I glanced at the motion sensor one more time and saw that no more movement was picked up. Still six dots, and I also could hear the distinctive guttural vocalizations- I recognized the sound, which then the computer inside my brain had already cataloged, then designating them a red color coding and deeming them hostile. Just before I'd enter, I noted the darkness of the tunnel, I then activated Night Vision, a subtle buzz cued as it turned on. Entering the already notably tiny tunnel, I had to crouch slightly as I found it difficult to pass through due to my large stature; I also noted the quiet, devious cackles of the creatures, thinking they had the jump on an unwary prey. I'd show them that was a deadly mistake.

Based on the motion sensor, each of the red dots indicated that the goblins were in positions that suggested they were ready to move and ambush their target. I'd foil that plan.

Moving for some 10 meters, I stalked around the curvature of the tunnel, there on the opposite side the goblins waited. Preparing myself, I got into a striking posture--I saw one of the goblins were starting to move. Seeing this as a moment to act, I bolted from my position and intercepted it; I quickly grabbed the vile green creature by its skinny neck, instantly slicing just below the head, decapitating it, chunky red blood splattered across the rock floor and wall. Its friends were shocked into motionlessness at both the display of their brethren's brutal execution and the appearance of my armor--I used this to my advantage. Tossing the lifeless body of the goblin I killed, I burst to the one directly behind, dishing a quick slash to its malnourished, bloated abdomen- disgusting dark colored bile evacuated from its liberated viscera which poured from its body that was practically split in half, as it lied, releasing a cry in agonizing pain, I brought my 10 kilo titanium alloy boots unto its misshapen head. The impact utterly obliterated its skull, liquidizing any tissue, whilst simultaneously splashing and vaporizing upon contact with my particle barrier, the force of my stomp left fractures and a deep imprint on the rock.

_That's two. 4 more to go. _I noted internally, a small smirk creeping on my face.

Lifting my boot and examining it like I stepped on a big bug, I shot my attention to my next target--one of the goblins decided to be daring and attack me head on. It ran towards and leaped, its attempt to latch unto me and stab me failed horribly; I simply reacted and caught it with my free hand. As it repeatedly stabbed a reinforced portion of the UIT with its crude dagger, in a futile effort to inflict non-existent damage, I shook my head at its pitiful attempt, casually applying sufficient force to easily crush its head from which I held it by, the resulting pressure pulverized its skull, giving a healthy crunch as the cranium shattered and a moist, meaty squish followed as I gripped harder.

Before the others could react, I continued to clutch the corpse of its dead brother by its mangled mess of a head, then proceeded to use the carcass as a makeshift battery weapon, viciously battering it until the goblin I attacked also became a gory mass of flesh and bone. Feeling myself getting a little carried away, I decided to stop my excessive succession of furious pounding. Satisfied, I turned to the last remaining goblin.

Practically falling apart at that point, I threw aside the corpse which was entirely unrecognizable from its former state; I slowly walk towards my final target, approaching it in a cold, imposing manner as to purposely intimidate the diminutive creature. Unsurprisingly this worked, the creature completely frightened, stepped several paces backwards until its back was against the rock that was opposite of me. It stood there, pointing and waving around its shitty, jagged dagger as a hopelessly useless deterrent to keep me at bay. I gazed at it for a moment in disgust, to which I simply followed by delivering a devastating forward kick with the thrust from my cybernetically enhanced musculture driving my boot into the goblin, a blur of motion that generated enough momentum and power to blow apart the majority of its body, sending bits of bone, tissue, and various fluids outward for several feet. I pulled away my boot, remaining portions of the carcass dropped, leaving a splat as they contacted the ground, whatever organic matter leftover stuck over the impact area, my boot left a crater with fractures spreading outward.

"That's all of them down." I said, looking around at the aftermath. "Time I get back to the others. Hopefully they aren't dead." _That last part being a joke._

Finished, I spent a second to search for something to rub my knife clean of the bloody gunk, excessively oily and probably reeked horribly. I certainly didn't want to use the nasty ass bodies of the goblins I killed, so unsatisfied with anything in here, I decided to use my particle barrier itself. With a thought, I adjusted the cyclic frequency of part of the particle flow to generate enough heat to melt away the coagulated tissue and blood though not to a degree where I'd melt my knife. Thinking I found the appropriate temperature, I carefully hovered my knife over that part of the particle barrier, watching with a small bit of satisfaction as the intense heat quickly boiled away the caked organic matter. Once everything on the knife disappeared, I examined it briefly, making rapid slicing motions to quickly cool it off before locking it back into the magnetic sheathe.

Didn't seem this lead anywhere, nothing but a small pocket of space, barely able to fit someone of my size. As per my incursion, I obviously could imagine this was just a spot that the goblins would use to lie and wait until careless or oblivious travellers passed by unknowingly leading themselves into an ambush where they would be killed and their possessions stolen. I hate to say it but while these creatures were by no means intelligent they seemed to possess some capacity to learn, and be rather crafty. There is a very high possibility that this bunch would have missed this tunnel and probably died, as evident from their earlier mishap. Fortunately they had me to help keep their heads screwed on straight.

Before leaving the tiny cave, I took a short moment to examine myself to see if my suit was free of any bloody goblin bits- which it was, as I expected, the particle barrier would melt away any biological matter. Taking one final look at the mosaic of gore painted all around the surrounding rock, I nodded in satisfaction before starting to depart the cave, uncomfortably passing through the tight pathway in a slouched posture. Nearing the exit of the tunnel, I could make out light chatter amongst the party while they patiently waited- _what they were conversing over didn't really matter as it mostly entailed what I was busy doing. _Exiting the cave, my team gave me surprised looks, and expectantly, Warrior was the one to speak up.

"You're done already? Did you happen to find anything?" questioned the boy.

I gave a slight nod. "Another tunnel leads to a small cave. Found six goblins in there" I replied, pointing to the tunnel behind me as I walked. "It was a tight squeeze, but I killed all of them with either my knife or my boots. Devious little bastards were clearly waiting to ambush us."

Warrior's mouth immediately went agape, stunned, and the rest of the teenagers eyes widened in similar emotions.

"W-wait...you were only gone for like ten seconds! How?!" objected the boy, his utter disbelief not lost on me. The others nodded in agreement, evidently share his sentiment.

I chuckled, while cracking my knuckles. "I've fought and killed things far more deadly." I said, feeling strangely boastful. "These greenies may as well be ants to me."

Every one of them exchanged looks of disbelief, questions brewing in their heads as their curiosity elevated. Warrior wanted to say something however had evidently decided against it, and the other teens likely felt the same urge. Their silence showed they respected my authority, and knew not to ask me too many needless questions.

I bobbed my head as a gesture to move, the Priestess girl stared at me for a moment seemingly as if intending to ask me a question. Saying nothing about that, I headed back to rejoin the party whom continued to talk quietly amongst themselves; I glanced over my shoulder at Priestess who was standing in place, and pondering about whatever she wanted to ask, immediately snapping from that state upon seeing me, hastily following behind. Upon regrouping I motioned everyone to reform into their designated positions, once they had done so, I nodded to them and followed with another hand signal instructing the group to advance.

I'd imagine since I hadn't yet detected any movement, that would mean the main cavern was more than 150 meters down still, leaving the possibility of more tunnels the goblins could to hide. We'd spend a little bit of time to make our way there, and I'd use that to think of different scenarios as well as tactics which to appropriately apply them to. I only did this so I could efficiently instruct and coordinate each of the teenage adventurers individual abilities and skill sets to ensure maximum combat adaptability and performance. I had no concern for my own safety as there was likely virtually nothing these creatures could do to even remotely harm me, let alone being fatal, _No, _I just wanted to make sure the kiddos weren't killed. If I saw even the most minor sign of injury, I'd let loose and quickly finish it. I wasn't going to fuck around. Like before I darted my eyes between both sides of the tunnel searching for anymore holes the goblins could crawl out of and try to ambush us. Fortunately it seemed like it was devoid of any such places with the rock along the tunnel walls mostly unbroken, but, I maintained regular vigilance with both my own eyes and my motion sensor.

While we trekked through the tunnel something about the layout triggered past memories of missions that he me wind up having to explore and navigate the inside of a cave system. I wasn't particularly uncomfortable or uneasy as a cave such as this wasn't nearly as large or deep as some of the ones on other planets I've visited, though, I couldn't say it had that homely feeling either. It was just an odd sensation, as if something seemed wrong or vaguely off-putting, which granted, most I explored didn't result in me encountering or fighting any dangerous fauna that resided there, and those instances I did were things far more vicious and deadly then these measly goblins. Funnily enough it was actually the occasions that I ultimately didn't encounter anything that proved the most…..unsettling in the end. One particular occasion on a planet designated ClRy-013666, a world of nothing but global spanning grass plains, and a single large obelisk seemingly placed in the middle of nowhere, or as it initially seemed. There was strange glyphs inscribed on its surface, of which I attempted to read with futility, as I did so, they began to glow, the obelisk radiated a gaseous like energy, and not far off did it sound as if the crunch of moving rock was heard. Broken earth revealed a subterranean pathway- _to a cave of sorts._

_Seemingly as I was drifting into a dream like state, the pinging of my motion sensor abruptly pulled me away, and I immediately snapped out of my auto-pilot like movement._

It would seem we were approaching proximity of the cavern, as I had picked up a considerable amount of movement on the motion tracker. According to the computer data, vibration energy generated from multiple small child-sized signatures, along with a much larger adult man-sized signature amongst them were detected by the seismograms. It was evident this was most likely the main cavern, which is based on the number of goblins present, along with another larger creature (which I assumed was a genetic similar subspecies), this had to be the nest where the majority of the creatures resided. Several minutes had passed when we progressed far enough down the tunnel to approach within close proximity of the cavern entrance, a seeming hair distance away on the motion sensor, indicating we were less than 20 meters away from the nearest target. Before we went any further I wanted to scout ahead first, and see where the goblins were placed within the cavern. I raised a closed fist as hand signal to halt, glancing my head over to emphasis the instruction.

"_Hostiles. I'll scout ahead and give myself a better look." _I said, speaking in a low whisper to my team whom appeared to understand my hand gesture. "Wanna see how they're positioned inside the cave."

Every one of the teens exchanged looks before nodding in acknowledgement, retaining there hardened and ready looks. Warrior's mouth opened slightly about to speak, but I shot him a gesture to remain quiet.

Moving upward, I took advantage of my dark suit blending in the cave darkness, activating my cloak as I approached a curvature in the tunnel. The group had already seen me uncloak before but I preferred not to do it again as to show this was something that I could on_ beck and call-- didn't want to reveal the full extent of my abilities. _

With my cloak engaged I began to crouch walk around the curve, the tunnel itself gradually sloping downward as I went. I made sure to move slowly, as while they wouldn't be able to see me; Goblins are known to have excellent hearing, likely being able to hear regular footsteps from at least a few dozen meters away, not to mention they had exceptional night vision as well as superior olfactory nerves to humans--_supposedly they could smell the scent of metal._ I wasn't concerned about that even if I was wearing what was essentially a metal carapace.

At the bottom of the tunnel was the entrance to the main cavern; I didn't walk all the way inside but instead remained at the entrance and observed from there, where I did a quick headcount. No doubt this was the nest, I counted 10 regular underlings spread throughout the cave, towards the back of the cavern was an abnormally large goblin roughly the size of an average man (Though I was probably a good bit taller), which I assumed was some kind of Hobgoblin, and directly behind it looked to be another goblin similar in size to the others but wore a tattered neck dress and a headdress that concealed its eyes, and gripped a crude staff made of a plain stick and several bones tied together at the top. I'd imagine based on its attire and its throne, which was also crudely made from human bones and ragged cloth, that this was the pack leader; I wondered if it was capable of calling upon similar type abilities like Wizard girl, as per its staff. I spent a little more time to find anything noteworthy--_which I did_; I focused on the shaman goblin's chair, though not specifically itself but rather what looked to be behind it. Narrowing my eyes, I magnified the vision inside my helmet several times until I had a good enough sight on what I was looking at. Granted, much of the chair and the Goblin itself obscured view but from what I could discern there appeared to be a wooden door of sorts, probably leading another crawlspace, of what was contained inside I couldn't be sure.

_Livestock? No, they'd have eaten them by now. Stolen supplies? Possibly, but then they'd eventually run out of space and have to move it. Weapons? Probably not. I thought that maybe the local village girls that the teens mentioned earlier might have been a possibility. That would seem to be something they would want to keep out of sight and not easily or immediately accessible. Seemed logical, I didn't see any female goblins come to think of it, so they'd obviously be used as a means to reproduce. Then again that door is rather small, and I couldn't imagine the space on the other side being that large either. _Puzzled, I figured I had seen what I need to, but before I headed back to regroup with the others I took a few seconds to tag each of the goblins, a red outline highlighting their figures making them easier to keep track of. I turned around, and walked back with the same kind of caution and silence I had came down. Wizard girl and Fighter looked to be in the middle of a light conversation, Warrior eyed his sword like it was his prized possession, and little Priestess stood like a statue with notably nervous and anxious though composed in her behaviour.

"Hostiles confirmed." I said, while making my up the last stretch of the tunnel. "10 underlings, a big 'Ol hobgoblin, and some kind of shaman goblin. 12 hostiles total."

All of the group's eyes seemed to widen at the mentioning of that. Unsurprisingly again, Warrior was the one to speak up.

"Did you just say there was a hobgoblin and shaman?" questioned the boy, his voice cracking a little. "Also 12 goblins!"

I nodded but didn't say anything further about it. I looked at my team of little misfits.

"Recall what I said earlier. Play to each of your strengths and cover each other's weaknesses." I instructed, looking between each of them as I spoke. "Wizard girl instead of _Gust_, use_ Force to attack at range, Fighter and Warrior you kill any that try to get close to Wizard girl, and Priestess you'll remain on standby in case anyone gets injured. Work together to eliminate the underlings; I'll kill the big one and the shaman. Understood?"_

All of the group nodded in acknowledgement, their expressions immediately hardening in readiness.

Before we advanced to strike the cavern, I reached for the utility belt integrated with my suit's torso plating, grabbing hold of a flashbang grenade. I could feel confused eyes of my team boring at me.

"Its a type of explosive." I said, holding the flashbang in view of them. " It uses an electrically induced chemical process to release a brilliant flash of light to blind opponents. Hence the name _Flashbang."_

With no further words, I clutched the pressure sensitive trigger handle, popping open a valve that revealed the button. Pressing the button with my thumb, I immediately let go of the primed _non-lethal_ explosive, tossing it down the tunnel, its momentum carrying it through the air for a short time before hitting the ground near the end of the tunnel. I could hear the metal clank of it impacting and rolling towards it target, counting down from 5.

"_On my mark. Go." _I said, quickly glancing to my team. "I'd look away if I were you."

My team gave me confused looks but quickly took my advice closing their eyes and looking in different directions.

Nodding, I raised my right hand and dropped my fingers as I counted down. _Five. Four. Three. Two. One. _Right on cue, I heard the pop of the chemicals release inside the grenade and then an audible hiss, then finally a loud buzz as the electro-mechanical primer activated, exciting the chemicals responsible for the process. No more than a split second later, an incredibly bright flash of light would be released; I could see the residual light travel up but we were more than far enough for my team to be unaffected. _My helmet had a second visor to help filter out harmful light, as well as the cameras inside the main visor also able to greatly reduce such light._

Grabbing hold of my knife's grip, releasing it from its magnetic sheathe I waited until my team opened their eyes again. With my knife ready, I raised a clenched fist as a sign to remain in place; I waited a second after the flashbang had detonated.

"_GO!" _I shouted, in a deep and authoritative growl.

Like a missile launching, I bolted from my spot in a furious burst of speed, breaking the rock beneath me as I thrusted forward. For a brief moment I wonder if any of the rock that sent flying hit any of the group behind; evidently not as I could hear both Warrior and Fighter began to let out battlecries as we started to enter the cave. Initially, I had gained some distance between me and the rest of the group who had hastily tried to catch up, though my concern waned once they began to engage the goblins who shrieked in both shock and fear at the surprise attack. It would seem the ambushers have become the ambushed. While much of the goblins were still recovering from their sudden blindness, the others could more easily kill them off without resistance. Effects caused by the flashbang would around 2 minutes, and considering how sensitive these goblin's hearing is, deafness should linger longer. Our advantage was evidently made good use of as several goblins had already been killed, mostly by Wizard girl and Fighter.

While the others dealt with the underlings, I ran straight for both the hobgoblin and the shaman, whom were still suffering from flashbang blindness. The priority was the shaman, as he was the leader though the most immediate threat was actually the hobgoblin. Charging towards the hobgoblin, I focused my sight on the shaman who had recently fell out of his chair, writhing on the floor as he clutched his face in intense pain; I waited until he began to get up, raising the knife and clutching it tightly. Right as he stood up straight, looking at my direction as though the effects were about to wear off, I narrowed my eyes, painting an invisible bullseye on the goblin's head while quickly calculating how much power to put in and the flight arc; I pulled my arm back then rapidly extended it forward, launching the knife from my hand. Imperceptible to the normal eye, the knife whistled through the air like a tiny missile, barely missing the hobgoblin by centimeters; as the shaman goblin seemed to open its eyes, unable to react, the knife perfectly hits its mark, landing directly between the eyes, impacting with enough kinetic energy to drive the goblin backwards, busting the throne whilst in flight before getting stuck in the wooden door behind it. It writhed for a second before immediately dying, its lifeless body hanging from its impaled head.

_Leader Goblin is down _I noted internally

_I shot a glance at my young team, whom appeared to be handling themselves rather well, despite having little to no weapons. Wizard girl blew apart any goblins from afar, while Warrior and Fighter had gotten into sync with one another, each doing their best to protect each other while preventing any that got too close to Wizard girl. Aside from myself, Wizard girl appeared to be the mvp as she effectively and consistently killed goblins long before they could close the distance on herself and the others. Fighter was a close second, killing several with surprisingly strong punches and kicks to the head. Warrior did seem to use his sword a little more effectively considering the larger amount of space, though his lack of proper experience showed as he mostly relied on wild swings; however he did somewhat effectively fend off and parry the attacks of two goblins wielding stone knives, if even the strikes were rather weak. Priestess herself surprised me, as she looked to take one out with her staff by likely jabbing it until it died, if she even did so in a reactionary and fearful manner. I found that to be hilarious._

With my next target before me, I continued my rush towards the hobgoblin which was on the verge of recovering from its stunned state. It started to open its eyes, though before it could take a moment to react, I shunted both my momentum and strength, driving myself into it with sufficient force to launch it from its feet and directly into a rock wall on the other end of the cavern. Moment upon impact, the rock it smashed into cratered with the residual energy causing deep fractures to spread outward, sending out an audible thump and crunch as it hit. X-Ray scanner show it had already suffered numerous fractured ribs and the posterior portion of its cranium had busted open, along with severe hemorrhaging beginning to occur. Seemingly debilitated for a moment, I approached the hobgoblin, though despite its worsening wounds, it still fight back, swinging around its large, muscular arms, thrashing about like an angry corned animal. Surprised by its apparent resilience to pain; I still easily avoided its wild, haphazard strikes which were somewhat quick despite its bulky frame. Growling in primal rage, it pulled itself from the rock, leaving blood and green tissue as it freed itself from the jagged rock from which was lodged in its body.

I narrowed my eyes. "Too dumb to quit, huh?" I said, both commending and degrading the large green humanoid. "Don't worry. This will end very soon."

The big, bearded goblin glared at me, as though understanding I was undermining it (_Actually, it probably just wanted to rip me apart and eat._)

Glaring at me with its yellow snake-like eyes, it snarled, attempting to grab me with its large arms; I quickly stepped back, and swiped away one of its arms then in a following motion grabbed the other, turning around and tossing the hobgoblin over my shoulder. I used my quick movement and strength to slam it into the ground, breaking more of its ribs and apparently causing one of them puncture to its lungs, as I heard the creature gargle as its respiratory organ pooled with blood. Even still, it managed to desperately resist, though its movements while fierce were rapidly waning as it steadily bled to death. Growing tired of its constant thrashes, I gripped one of its arms using a greater extent of my strength, proceeding to tear it away from its shoulder, an audible pop and squelch followed as I severed the limb, causing the creature to let out a roar in agonizing pain. As blood oozed from its injury, I glanced behind me to a goblin that appeared to be trying to seize an opportunity to sneak up on Fighter while her and Warrior were preoccupied with another group; I narrowed my eyes, raising my arm at a slight upward angle, aiming for its legs I threw the severed limb as I would a frisbee. Flying through the air in a circular motion, the dismembered arm hit its mark, breaking the goblin's legs from beneath it causing the diminutive creature to spin several times before falling back to the ground. Completely incapacitated, I whistled to Fighter in order to get her attention.

"Huh?" she uttered, temporarily confused before immediately getting the hint afterward. She spotted the immobilized goblin, her face immediately contorted into a fierce expression as she brought her boot down onto the shrieking creature, the impact of her stomp crushing the goblin's head like a withered watermelon, sending giblets of flesh and bone outward. She nodded. "Thanks for the heads up, Merc." she finished, a grimace of disgust brewing as she looked at the disfigured creature, and the mess left on her clothing.

"How many are there left?" asked Warrior, his swings evidently becoming more sluggish. The others nodded in agreement. "I'm starting to lose some steam."

"There's the four were dealing with." replied Fighter, killing one of the goblins in front of her with a kick to the head. Her heavy breathing signified her taxed condition. "I think Wizard Girl killed off all the one's on her end, Priestess seems free of any, and there's the Hobgoblin, Merc is about to finish off."

Noting their concerns, I didn't want to prolong the fighting and have the others succumb to their exhaustion. I turned back to the hobgoblin who still viciously swung around its arms either in an attempt to grab me or claw me with its sharp nails; I thought little of its futile attacks, as I prepared to strike it down. Smashing its remaining arm into the rocky ground, completely shattering every bone inside as well as liquidizing any tissue; I cocked back my arched arm as far as I could, then in one flourish motion I proppelled my fist forward into the creatures face. Force of impact annihilated the hobgoblins entire head, contact with my particle barrier vaporized any organic matter in direct vicinity, the residual energy transferred into the rock beneath, created a loud clap as the impacted area shattered sending fragments in all directions. I heard shocked gasps as result of the vibration generated my ground pound, seemingly causing the entire cavern to shake.

With my targets dead, I looked around at the rest of my team's progress- _Wizard girl indeed was successful in killing the goblins on her side, several mangled and bloody corpses lay in the area in front of her, she appeared utterly winded but relatively untouched aside from her torn outfit. Priestess displayed her usual nervous demeanor but remained steadfast and also unharmed. Warrior and Fighter had managed to kill several themselves, as evident from the corpses which lied either battered or riddled with oozing gashes. Only two goblins remained, both which were engaged with Fighter and Warrior, however, despite the creatures small stature and relatively weak strikes, the goblins took advantage of the pair of adventurers slowing movements. Both Fighter and Warrior were exhausted and would collapse at any moment; if I didn't intervene the goblins even with their measly stone knives would eventually kill them both._

I narrowed my eyes in killing intent. "_Night on my watch, you little green bastards." _I muttered, an inexplicable sense of protective instinct kicked in.

Abandoning the battered, headless corpse of my foe; I marched in a fierce manner towards the tiny, vile creatures. Inevitably both Warrior and fighter fully ceased in their movements, almost completely expelled of energy. Thinking they had opportunity to strike down their enemies, and about to pounce on Warrior or Fighter to stab them to death in a gruesome fashion; I rapidly covered the distance between, while the two young adventurers braced themselves for their demise, I caught both of their green assailants just as they were going to attack. With a hold of both of the creature's heads, each shrieking in terror and desperately trying to wriggle themselves free; I clutched each's head like they were coconuts, in one swift motion viciously smashing one anothers cranium into each other, and like cracked eggs their skulls blew apart releasing large bits of gray matter as well as colorful mixture of bone, blood and mucus.

Warrior and Fighter as well as Wizard girl and Priestess stared aghast at the sight of the headless corpses I carried in my hands. Any one of them looked like they were going to upchuck at any moment._ Maybe a bit too brutal?_

"Uh...thanks for the save. It's a…" said Warrior, belching before regurgitating the contents of his stomach. "Heh ...this morning's breakfast. _Burp. _Anyway thanks for taking out those goblins_."_

"Yeh. Thank you…." said Fighter, now holding her over mouth as to prevent her from also vomiting. "Ew. That's so gross."

Wizard girl belched as she was trying to suppress her own urge to vomit; she swallowed in disgust before getting everyone's attention.

"Is that all of the goblins? Did we exterminate them all?" she said, composed though her shaking frame indicated her evident exhausted state. "Please tell me yes. My mana levels are low and I didn't carry any potions with me."

Warrior looked around the area, and gave everyone a confirmatory look. "Sure seems like it. I think we got them all!" assured Warrior, raising his sword in a triumphant manner.

"Oh thank the Gods." uttered Wizard Girl, who collapsed onto her bum in exhaustion.

As everyone was about cheer and relax, I turned to Priestess who looked like she wanted to say something. And I knew exactly what.

Priestess nervously raised her hand in order to get everyone's attention. Everyone shot her confused looks, and Wizard girl seemed to express annoyance through her tired face.

"What is it now? We're done. We've killed them all." spoke Wizard Girl, her tone becoming less irked and more worried. "Haven't we?"

All together the party looked to me expectantly, as though my word would be the final confirmation.

I looked to Priestess, who then turned her attention to what I had spotted earlier. Confirming my suspicion, I nodded to Priestess with the others exchanging confused looks unsure whether I meant all hostiles were eliminated or that there was more to be done, and despite there questioning expressions, said nothing. Breaking from the group, I headed to the other end of the cavern, to the small indentation in the rock. I stopped at the little wooden door, grabbing hold of my knife, and pulled it from the wood which it was deeply embedded, the body of the shaman goblin fell, creating a small thump as it hit the ground. Cleaning my knife off as I did before and resheathing it; I grabbed hold of the dead goblin's carcass, tossing it another side of the cave, another small audible thump as it landing. I glanced to the group behind, snapping my head slightly as a gesture for them to move over to my location.

Exchanging some puzzled looks, they seemed to have understood the motion signal, they shot up from their stationary positions and began to approach.

"Come over here." I ordered, looking at the small door while also at my motion tracker which had picked up several yellow dots. "I found something. Also Priestess had suspected the same as well."

It was already evident there wasn't just any kind of objects behind this door, no supplies or other material possessions of any kind. There was certainly something or several things for that matter, alive on the other side of that small door. The question was what exactly? My other sensors were triggered as well- _Heartbeat, neural activity, and small but frequent biologically induced vibrative activity. Was it from small children, or similarly sized livestock? Was beginning to think it was from the kidnapped girls but What? I had to find out._

"Hey. What is it? What did you find?" asked Warrior, answering his own question upon looking at the small wooden door. "Oh-Oh! It's a little wooden door. What the hell is behind there?"

Fighter punched Warrior's arm, whom recoiled back in notable pain. "Maybe we'll find out once, you shut your trap." said Fighter, nodding to me to resume my action.

"Okay geez. I'll stay quiet." said Warrior, rubbing his arm while grumbling under breath.

Giving an obligatory nod back, I turned my attention back to the small wooden door.

"Well. Let's what behind door number one." I said, in a somewhat comical gameshow referencing manner. It would probably go in vain, considering none of the teens likely knew what the hell I was even talking about. _Oh well, I tried. _Thinking to myself.

Shrugging, I crouched down and grabbed the side I assumed was the correct way to open. It seemed to be so, but the door was being rather uncooperative and not proving easy to budge. Becoming impatient and somewhat annoyed, I figured I'd be a little more "Firm" and pry it open with a tad more force. Grasping the edge more "Firmly", I applied slightly more strength; I guess I might've slightly underestimated my strength as the moment the door was freed, it was sent launching across the cavern, the wooden door shattered into numerous pieces upon hitting the rock wall. Poor teens recoiled in surprise, and Warrior nearly shit his pants (_Again)._

"Oops. My bad. Didn't mean to scare you." I apologized, emphasizing with a waving hand gesture. "Sometimes I miscalculate my own strength. Also damn thing was pissing me off."

"Oh-uh. Heh, that's okay." said Fighter, seemingly still a tad bit shaken. "Um. What's behind the door?"

Turning my attention from Fighter, I focused my gazed at the opening left behind the door. I could hear fearful and distressed crying inside, but couldn't see a damn thing as it was pitch black and Warrior's torch was close to dying out. So I opted to switch on my helmet's light as opposed to night vision as I wanted the others to get a good look as well. With a thought, I activated my helmet's halogen lamp, and what was illuminated into view, caused me to widen my eyes in surprise and shock, well, kinda. Mostly just surprised.

"Hey! What is it? What's in there?" questioned warrior, hearing his footsteps behind me. I could imagine his jaw dropped at what he saw. "Are-are those……."

Compelled by his reaction, the others crept closer as well, and soon also became stunned by the revelation.

Illuminated into view was the offspring of this groups nest. Inside were four infant goblins, all huddled together against the wall in the back of the tiny cave. The tiny juvenile creatures stare frightened, completely unaware of who we were or what was going on in the outside world. I began to wonder.

"Those are…." said Wizard girl, unable to finish before Warrior interrupted her.

"BABY GOBLINS!" blurted out Warrior, stating the obvious.

Wizard Girl bunked him on the head for interrupting her.

"Yes I know. I was about to say that." said Wizard Girl, glaring at Warrior. "You bone-head. Anyway, these goblins were probably born recently. I think it's a good idea to dispatch them."

The others nodded in agreement, aside from Priestess, who seemed reluctant and even opposed to such an idea. Before I'd acknowledge that, a question began to pop into my head.

"I've only seen what appeared to be male goblins." I said, pondering over a question I might feel stupid asking. But I asked anyway. "I don't recall seeing any females. How would these have been born? I can't imagine some form of parthenogenesis, or hermaphroditic capabilities. Wait….."

Before I'd come to my conclusion, Priestess was about ready to speak. I turn around and waited for her response.

"Um-um ...Goblins are a male only species," she said, stuttering, nervous and apprehensive to give her answer. "Th-they reproduce by abducting and….." she paused as though too afraid to finish her reply.

I raised my hand and nodded, understanding what she wanted to explain but couldn't due to some innate apprehension. Hard to say whether she empathetic or not, but she was clearly conflicted by some moral restraint. It would seem she didn't want to kill the creatures.

"Speak no further. I now understand completely." I said, turning my attention from away to the baby goblin creatures. I narrowed my eyes first in contemplation, then to a boiling sense of repulsion and contempt. "Those girls, women, the females…...are kidnapped, and taken back to the nest." I paused for a moment, as I knew full well why these creatures were spawned, and felt hate began to burn. "These creatures don't spawn from within their own species, they raid and steal from the village, and kidnap the women…..rape them, and impregnate them to further their own race."

I looked back to the others, whom were in consensus to exterminate the infant creatures, as they understood the future threat these would pose if left unchecked. Priestess as before was still opposed, now more evident by her saddened, imploring look.

"A-are you going to kill them?" asked Priestess.

I nodded

"B-but they're just babies." stated Priestess, clutching her staff close to her body, her eyes closing as her face contort into a disheartened grimace. "What if there is a good goblin? One might exist." Priestess now on the verge of tears.

I looked to her, I didn't want to see her distressed, however, these creatures are dangerous and must be culled. I didn't say a word, instead gesturing the others to back away; I then specifically looked to Priestess, who was still somewhat defiant in her reluctance and pleading disposition. I wasn't angry or even annoyed, I understood her apparent kind and caring nature, as well as her innocence. She was an intelligent but naive girl, who was unaccustomed to the horrors of the outside world; and deep down, she knew that this was a grim but necessary means to quell a problem such as this. She didn't want to enact an action as amoral as this because she deemed it unethical. And that's why there's someone like me here. I'm immune to fucked up shit.

Fighter had temporarily broken from the group, holding and comforting Priestess. She shot me a saddened look before Fighter escorted her over to the others, whom were waiting by the cavern exit.

Focusing back unto the little infant goblins, I spent a moment recalling the look on Priestess' face, her sad and conflicted expression--evident sense of innocence lost. I snapped out of my contemplative state, narrowing my eyes at the infantile creatures, imagining the devious and vile monsters they would quickly turn into. Without a second of hesitation, I got up from my crouched position; I stepped a few paces back and looked to my UIT. Activating my flamethrower module, the cover parted open and slid into a compartment with the air compressor and electronic igniter expanding outward and fitting in place, as the firing mechanism configured, the intake fins opening as the nozzle extended forward. A metallic click signified complete configuration.

"Hey. What is he doing?" I heard warrior ask on the other side of the cavern. "He's just standing there."

Paying no attention to him, I primed the flamethrower module, extending my arm out; I got one last good look at the terrified infant creatures. My expression cold and emotionless, I heard the hiss of the FT module siphoning air, in an instant, the air ignited into fuel, unleashing a large torrent of flames, the fire roaring as it expelled into the tiny cave. For a brief moment I heard the horrified gasps behind me, quickly drowned out by the crackles of the intense heat as well as the curdled, agonized cries of the goblin offspring burning to death in the inferno. Once I saw no more movement on the motion sensor, and no longer heard the faint screams of the baby goblins; I ceased and cut off the air flow, deactivating the flamethrower module. For that brief moment, I stood in place, gazing into the bright yellow crackling flames, pondering over how the burning fire represented my past and the path I've carved up to this point. Killing my foes without hesitation or thought; coldly, and mercilessly burning all those who stand in my way. Symbolism of my brutal but efficient ways of going about my way of life. I was a monster myself, and I knew it; but it didn't bother me--however, now, I didn't know.

For that moment, I heard a strange but terrifyingly familiar chuckle, faint but ever so blaring; nothing left was truly there, but it burnt a mark in the back of my mind. Severed, but yet pulling strings without actually being present.

The pitter-patter of footsteps snapped me out of my distant, withdrawn state. I glanced over my shoulder to see Warrior standing directly behind me having broke from the group.

"So uh ...maybe we should head out." said the boy, scratching the back of his head indicating nervousness. "Seems we cleared out all the goblins, unless we happened to miss some tunnels, which wouldn't surprise me. Because you know...earlier."

Without responding, I turn away from the boy, staring back into the flames for a moment; I listened in on the pop of the corpses vaporizing, as though it drew me into recollection of previous events. I ceased my state of contemplation, looking around at the cavern we were in; I saw there were no signs of any of the kidnapped females, and though despite exterminating the goblins, rescuing the girls was apparently another important part of the mission. I began to wonder if they had been relocated to another nest at an earlier point. Could it have been simply hearsay? It was possible however if there were enough survivors to reliably recount the events then that might be some kind of premise to go off of. It didn't make much sense--unless one those tunnels I passed earlier did have something waiting at the end, inside another small cave. My motion sensor didn't pick up any movement, though it was possible there was either an insufficient amount of vibration generated or could have simply been out of range of my other sensors. Only way to be sure would be to search each one which there were two I passed by, I saw none where I came originally from and suspected there wasn't likely to be any on the initial path these adventurers took entering the outside cave entrance.

"Are you okay? Because you're being strangely quiet." questioned the boy, slightly nervous but also somewhat concerned. "Oh wait...the kidnapped girls. I almost forgot about them. They were supposed to be here but I don't see them."

Acknowledging what he said, I again didn't respond, and moved from my spot; I didn't leave the cavern yet but instead went around picking up the goblins, along with their crude weapons and started to throw them into the yet still burning fire. Warrior was ready to speak but instead didn't as well as attempting to help however I gestured for him not too and to keep at a distance, giving a small nod before returning to the others. One by one I disposed of all the green creatures, burning them to ashes, with only the hobgoblin left, I dragged the carcass of the large humanoid creature by the loose and broken arm, raising its upper body slightly before kicking it into the fire. My intent was to destroy the bodies to leave no trace of anything having resided here. Seeing that no bodies were left, I turn to the fire which continued to burn intensely; I didn't take long to notice it beginning to let off substantial volumes of smoke as the extreme temperatures rapidly melt the rock. Seemed I got carried away again.

"Huh. Second time I've done this so far." I muttered, watching as the rock in front of me glowed and deformed. "Oops."

Still behind me were the others, who were waiting by the cavern exit; I waved them off and ordered the party to move ahead. They exchanged looks before nodding, and leaving the cavern one by one, and once they all left I turned back to the fire. I spent a moment to think of how to extinguish the flames, now looking around the cavern for any particularly large sized rocks that may have protruded to any notable degree. To my 3 O'clock was one sticking out several meters up; I activated specialized magnetic emitters built into both my UIT as well as my gloves, and tagged the rock as a target. Extending my arm outward I utilized a combination of technology and neural physics to remotely grab hold of the rock. Via a special form of magnetism, I made a clutching motion with my hand, feeling I had a solid grasp; I used psionic emission to pull the rock from the cavern wall, and a closed fist to hold the object in place. Making a slow reverse motion with my arm, I carefully brought the rock towards my direction as I walked backwards. Once about 5 meters away, stepping into alignment with both the cavern exit and the small cave; I twisted my arm along with my back, then with one forward motion, launched the levitating rock directly into the tiny cave. In instant it exceeded supersonic velocities, creating a field of extremely high pressurized air that rapidly expanded throughout the cavern and shattering portions of the rock walls. Upon impact the 3m boulder generated an explosive force that blew apart the directly targeted rock and large portions of the surrounding rock wall, letting out an incredibly loud clap as the entire rock formation containing the cave system shook from the resulting shockwave. May have gotten carried away again, though at least the fire was extinguished.

"Might have been a bit too forceful." I said, looking around at the cavern which had just gotten a lot more large. "That probably nearly gave the kiddos a heart attack."

I wasn't too concerned as I still was able to pick up their movement, so they hadn't travelled too far apparently. With one last glance at the destroyed cavern, I headed back up the tunnel and went to regroup with the rest of the party; I watched the motion sensor, seeing their continued movement, which I assumed they were backtracking to that one large tunnel I had found myself passing through earlier on, and I expected I'd just meet up with them there. Meanwhile as I made my way there, I contemplated on what my next action was going to be; I, of course wanted to get these kids out of this cave and then the matter of the kidnapped girls, though beyond that I didn't how much further to proceed. I needed to contact Genysis to let him know my location, which to be frank, I wasn't exactly certain what planet I was on, or how in the hell I even wound up here in the first place. Those questions irked me, and I failed to think of a logical explanation as to why. While my thoughts marinated, I noticed the dots on the motion sensor had became stationary, I still picked up minute and residual vibrations, it was evident they had ceased movement and held position. I'd be there shortly.

Merging back with the party, I did another quick examination of the group wanting to everyone's overall condition. Fortunately, no one seemed to suffer any debilitating or life-threatening wounds- Wizard girl was free of any injury with only her dress and cloak tattered. Warrior and Fighter also had portions of their clothing torn in places, and appeared to have sustained some minor cuts and bruises which looked to be mostly healed thanks to Priestess and Wizard girl. And Priestess herself appeared to have fared the best with no visible injuries of any kind, and only her robes had been stained with goblin blood along other possible fluids. These were satisfactory results, and aside from being visibly fatigued, they managed rather well, despite subpar and minimal equipment.

"Well, no one is dead. So that's something." I said, somewhat humorously. "No serious injuries I see."

"Other then a few cuts and bruises. We're okay." replied Fighter, referring to herself and Warrior. She gave a smile with clear fatigue in her face.

"Fortunately, Priestess healed our wounds." said Warrior, starting to smile and give a thumbs up. "Back up to tip top shape...mostly, a bit tired. But that's nothing."

I nodded then turned to Wizard Girl who was pinching at her tattered clothing.

"Since I used my sage incantations, and killed from a range. I suffered no injury." she said, annoyed and her face reddening with slight embarrassment. "As evident, I will need to sow my dress and robe, or buy new clothes. Damn goblins." she finished, muttering something afterward.

With that then, I turned to Priestess who seemed rather distance and not paying any particular anyone or anything, as though deep in thought. Noticing me looking in her direction; she appeared to snap from her state, and then turned to me, slightly startled.

"I-I'm okay ...I haven't suffered any injuries myself." she replied, in her soft mouse-like tone. "I casted the healing miracle to heal Warrior's and Fighter's wounds. As I'm able to only cast 3 miracles a day as the Earth Mother would allow; I have one more I can cast." she finished, looking away and downward while tightly clutching her staff as if returning to her contemplative state.

I narrowed my eyes and pondered myself; I suspected this was because of what occurred earlier in the cavern, as she seemed notably distraught afterward. While I believed that was one of the more immediate reasons, I also imagined it was also a consequence of her morality, and she was digesting her experience. Empathetic as I might have been, I figured this wasn't the place and time to deal with it. For now I'd sweep the last remaining caves, searching for any traces of the village girls that were believed to be kidnapped. I hadn't detected any movement on the motion sensor, however, I wouldn't dismiss the possibility as complete immobility would not be registered by the seismograms. Very much possible they could be restrained by some means, or elevated above the ground. We'd have to see. I set my thoughts away, returning my attention to the party.

They waited patiently, looking back expectantly for my next instruction. Despite being visibly fatigued, almost drained and their wounds only recently healed, the group were still willing and ready to continue. No one made any vocal or physical objections, though the rest of these caves were unlikely to contain anymore goblins hiding around; it was apparent they weren't concerned or wary of the possibility. I wasn't certain, though I imagine it may have something to do with them having adjusted to my presence and the ease of mind I seemed to give them while amongst them, as they were much more confident and eager in their abilities with me as their guardian. Or possibly, they were afraid of how I might respond if they were to object--then again, they were rather casual in their demeanors and seemed to be more or less acclimated, or even comfortable around me. Whatever the case, they were cooperative and ready.

Warrior smiled then spoke. "So Merc. We're ready when you are." he said, laying his sword flatly against his shoulder as if in a subtle gesture of confidence. "Let's find and rescue those kidnapped village girls."

The rest of the party looked to him then to me, nodding in agreement.

"We'll follow you." said Fighter, smiling with similar confidence to Warrior.

I nodded, feeling a sense of satisfaction. "Alright. Better you stay close anyway." I replied. "At least until we're finished with this mission and I get you back where you came from."

Almost routine now, I walk ahead, signaling the others to get into formation behind. They comply, shuffling themselves into their designated positions- Warrior and Priestess centered then Wizard girl and Fighter at the rear. Once they were in place, I turned forward and then signaled for them to advance. Onward down the tunnel then I would continue to closely monitor the motion sensor as well as maintain an observant, careful methodology in my approach, even if it were unlikely we going to stumble upon anything noteworthy.

Some of the party were engaged in light conversation, mostly between Warrior and Fighter who spoke about what they would do after the mission; Wizard girl seemed rather bored, and Priestess herself had been notably quiet and reserved. I imagined she was still trying to process the previous events that occurred, and with being ambushed nearly resulting in her and her companions deaths, she likely also questioned whether or not she was cut out for this--poor girl looked traumatized the first instance I saw her and I wouldn't blame her. The others were in the same boat until I showed up and decided to help, though reluctantly, I guess I couldn't just let them be killed, and they seemed to become more comfortable around me in the process. I'm sure little Priestess felt the same, even if she was much more demure in her approach and demeanor. I don't think she was disappointed or angry--just caught in a moral dilemma. And I wouldn't hold it against her.

Several minutes lapsed as we passed through the tunnel, which seemed slightly tighter in diameter from that of the main cavern. I wondered what we might come across further down; I didn't imagine any stockpile of livestock, as much of those animals would have likely been butchered and consumed, and I wasn't exactly sure what form of supplies goblins would steal outside weapons, armor, and food--I couldn't imagine these creatures having the intelligence and knowledge to properly utilize any form of medicine, and I wasn't sure what use goblins would have of non-essential material possessions. While I thought over that, I noticed my helmet's flashlight no longer illuminated the rough texture of the rock, darkness starting to drown it out indicating were coming across an open area. The layout of the motion tracker as well as a map inside another window showed what looked to be another area revealing from the rest of the registered cave topography. Going further, we were in fact being lead to what appeared to be another cave as evident from the widening contours of the rock walls represented by the topographical map displayed on the HUD. Nothing yet had triggered my motion sensor, and there were only five points of kinetic vibrations shown in the data feeds--though my other sensors on the other hand were seemingly being updated as I proceeded closer. My heart-rate along with the others were displayed in a small window along the upper border of the visor, however several new bars containing that specific information were added by the EE sensor. I narrowed my eyes as four new heart rates were cataloged in the database, unlike that of mine or the party's they were much lower and irregular in rhythm indicating compromised health. My suspicion only grew as the system not only picked up minute disturbances in the air, I started to listen in on the sound passing through the earphones and filtered--_Was that breathing? It was faint and intermittent but there was indeed something there. _I raised an upright fist as motion signal for the others to cease, their movement stopped indicating they had understood.

"I think there is something ahead." I said, glancing over my shoulder.

The party exchanged concerned, puzzled expressions

"How do you know? What is it?" questioned Warrior

"Yea Merc, what is it?" asked Fighter

"We're not even in the cave yet. How can you tell?" inquired Wizard girl, sounding somewhat skeptical though more so confused.

"Call it a Soldier's intuition ...among other things." I answered, turning my head back around. _Didn't feel like explaining my tech. _"Now wait here until I deem it safe."

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like where this is going." muttered Priestess behind me, her tone indicating apprehension.

Proceeding forward, I watch as each of the EMF signatures strengthen as the EE sensor gets a better read on the suspected heart pulsations; I also monitor the air disturbances as well as the fluctuation of Oxygen intake and Carbon dioxide emission as result from what I assume is aerobic activity, hence breathing. Even with regards to that I still listen in on what my earphones were picking up and filtering, the sound becoming much clearer with each several meters I walked. Indeed, the sound was now much more distinguishable and the bars containing the heart rate data were beginning to refresh as it accrued and analyzed new incoming information. Concerns rose as I approached the entrance of the cave at the end of this tunnel, and it was up to this point I already was able to make out slow, distressed respiration along with updated data on the recently detected heart rates which suggested those that these belonged to were in ill condition. Approaching a curvature in the tunnel, I stopped for a moment looking downward at the holster which my magnum was secured; I withheld using the combat knife and instead opted for my secondary weapon, a faint click made as I pulled it from the magnetic holster. I tapped a sensor that activated a module fitted to the weapon that released a collapsible suppressor, spinning until locked into place; I wanted to lower the decibel range enough not cause permanent harm, though it would still be very much audible especially in these compact caves. With my magnum drawn I advance forward, sticking along the corner as I approach the cave entrance, my weapon pointed out as I entered; I quickly snapped to both of the inside corners of the cave, checking my flanks for anything that may lie in hiding. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing of note; I didn't pick up any form of movement on the HUD but I wanted to be sure anyway. I shined the flashlight from side to side directing my magnum along with it as I scanned the rock walls for any signs of other passageways; I then centered my magnum and the flashlight along the floor of the cave until what was illuminated by the beam came into view. My eyes immediately widened at the sight.

"Holy shit." I said, lowering my magnum, surprised and admittedly a bit shocked. "Well, this might explain it."

Revealed by the illumination of the light were several young females tied in place onto large upright positioned boards of wood, their bodies battered, ridden with cuts and entirely lacking of clothing, completely naked. Scattered around the floor of the cave are numerous mats of cloth and fabric, saturated and crusted with recently fresh and dried blood and other fluids, among various forms of weapons such as paddles and makeshift whips which were likely used as torture devices. It was evident that these weren't just simple-minded creatures, but ones capable of heinous acts of cruelty and brutality; they don't just simply kidnap females to propagate, they also seem to take sadistic pleasure in assaulting their victims and using them as torture toys. The thought disgusted me and even started to incite a degree of cold disdain; I've seen some abhorrent, and nasty things but something like this legitimately pisses me off. Poor things couldn't be any older than 16 years of age, barely clinging to life. Standing there processing the sight, I noticed movement on the motion sensor, faint but audible footsteps pitter-pattered their way to the cave and I knew exactly who they belonged too--if she wasnt' traumatized then she will be now.

"I'm sorry I broke from formation, but y-you were….." she said, gasping, her staff seemingly dropped to the floor with a thud and sending a small echo inside the cave. "Oh the Goddess…...no."

Priestess collapsed to the floor at the cave entrance behind me, tears streaming down her youthful face. Either from her crying or the smack of her staff hitting the ground, the rest of the group were closing in from their positions as their movement was detected on the motion tracker and their footsteps audible as well as rapid.

"What's wrong Priestess? Did he find something?" shouted Warrior

"Is everything okay? We're coming?" yelled Fighter.

Their voices echoed off of the tunnel walls as they were passing down, and the orange glow of the torch becoming visible as it lit up the rock. All of them together entered the cave, stopping in place in right behind Priestess, each of them gasped as their faces contorted into expressions of shock and disgust. Some looked as though were going to vomit at any moment.

"Gah. That smell! It's horrible!" belched Wizard girl, cupping her hands in her mouth.

"A-Are these those girls…..from the village?" asked Warrior

Saying nothing, I holstered my MKP-55 and walked up closer to the restrained females, examining them. I briefly glanced behind me, gesturing the others to remain in their positions as they were about to move up; I turned back to the girls in front of me, closely inspecting each of their bodies. I tried to be quick and through as to not have my actions be misinterpreted as anything other than a simple medical analysis--I'd rather not be thought as being indulgent or ogling. Disregarding that notion, I went on to make notes of their physical conditions-- on the surface all of them suffered numerous bruises on various parts of the body, mostly around the breasts or pelvic region. To a much more notable degree were the amount of cuts and lacerations scattered around their bodies, much of the wounds had coagulated and darkened as though in the process of healing while several areas appeared to be inflicted much more recently, blood still seeping and glistening under the light of both my helmet's flashlight and that of Warrior's torch. None of the cuts seemed to be discolored or gangrenous, though signs of infection likely hadn't had enough time to progress yet. Their skin had evidently become considerably pale, likely result of gradual loss of blood and though they appeared to have suffered weight loss from malnutrition, they weren't quite in an emaciated state.

"A-are they ...still alive?" asked Fighter, worryingly.

I glanced over my shoulder, nodding. "Yes." I replied, somewhat reassuring but also implying logical feedback. "Though they're malnourished and dehydrated, and its possible their wounds are susceptible to infection."

The group's eyes widened slightly, exchanging expressions of concern and uncertainty. They looked back to me, obviously unsure of what to do, their expressions implying a need for guidance and suggestions. It was blatantly clear they had never been in a situation such as this before--and that didn't surprise me, because after they were still just kids, barely teenagers. Hated to have them exposed to situations like this, but if they were to continue with these "adventures" they'd need to develop a thicker skin.

Returning my attention back to the girls before me, I activated my helmet's

X-ray scanner in order to do an internal analysis on their bodies, mostly to search for any broken bones. For a few seconds I scanned each of them one by one, a conical beam of x-ray radiation imperceptible to the naked eye, passed over from the head down to the bottom of the feet, the process occurring several times in a second. Once I acquired the data, I referred to the UIT raising it up to slightly below eye level; I then activated the PL emitters, which created a holographic projection of each of the girl's skeletal structures. I thoroughly inspected their skeletons, making pinching gestures to zoom in on any specific part to get a more detailed view of that bone; I did this for about 30 seconds on each girl. Retrospectively, I didn't see any form of discoloration or deformation on the skin, however, I wanted to be sure of any possible skeletal damage that may have been inflicted, which considering how savage these creatures could be I didn't think such a thing was entirely unreasonable to assume. With that then, I looked over the final analysis, and it appeared according to the diagnosis that none of the girls seemed to suffer any major or even noteworthy skeletal injuries, though some did sustain microfractures in several places on the arms and legs, particularly concentrated around the tibia and the ulna as well radius, respectively.

"So no bones are broken. " I said, overviewing the data, somewhat satisfied. "Good"

Going through the function settings, I glanced at the motion tracker seeing movement to see Priestess slowly approaching me. She clutched her staff while notably shaking slightly, she then raised her head her face still a light shade of red from her bout of crying.

She sniffled, rubbing her eyes clean of any leftover tears. "A-Are these girls…..going to make it?" she asked, with a dire concern in her tone but her face expressed plea as though wanting a hopeful answer. "Tell me they are ...please."

Staring at her for a short moment, digesting that sad puppy eyed look of hers, I couldn't help but feel a little shred of pity for her, and I could tell she was on the fringe of another bout of crying. I cringed slightly, I wasn't exactly used to behavior as this. I didn't suspect they were in immediate mortal danger, though no medical attention would undoubtedly lead to expiration very soon, and likely within the next 36 hours. I unfortunately no medical supplies were on me, and my ship was still nowhere within transmission range. Had to think about what I'd need to do next--clearly the final course would be to the nearest infirmary or hospital, any facility with adequate professional medical care. Question was if that had been reasonable to assume there were any on this planet. Was this even Earth? I had no fucking idea. Something told me some form of colony and society existed somewhere on whatever rock I was on, and considering the primitive equipment these teens had it seemed so blatantly obvious. I'd withhold that questioning for now.

I paused momentarily before responding. "They're still breathing." I said, then turning back to the girls. "But considering the severe lack of water and sustenance for what I imagined the several days they've been here, and not to mention the kind of abuse they've been victim to and as it stands; they'll die within 36 hours if they don't receive proper medical care."

Priestess whimpered causing me to glance back at her

"I want to heal them all b-but I…" she said, seemingly in a defeated tone as she clutched her staff tightly. "I already ...used two of my miracles to heal Fighter and Warrior. I only have one more left…..and we didn't carry any potions with us." she finished, looking downward as though in shame and embarrassment.

I squinted then raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean as in you didn't carry any remedies or medical supplies?" I questioned, now thinking the notion as rather irresponsible and foolish. "And why is that? How come you aren't being supervised by someone with actual experience? Also wouldn't it have been logical to learn the area then maybe scout out for anything that may be hazardous?"

"Goblins are the weakest form of enemy." replied Fighter. "No one normally takes quests related to them, especially the higher rank adventurers due to the poor payout along with the goblins being lowly, filthy creatures."

"Yea. We thought it would be a good place to start." said Warrior. "Even though we're rookies, we figured since goblins are so small and weak that it would have been a walk in the park. So we well ...decided not to buy or craft any potions as we thought it wouldn't be necessary."

I squinted, contemplating their rashness and lack of forethought. What did they expect was going to happen?

"Yes. And I can clearly tell how well that was going." I replied. "Your poor preparation and equipment nearly led to you being killed. You're damn lucky I showed."

"In hindsight it was pretty reckless and foolish." admitted Warrior, smiling while rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

I facepalmed in disbelief. I then turned my attention to Wizard Girl who appeared ready to speak, pushing up her glasses.

"As porcelain ranked adventurers, we were considered rookies." she replied, in a somewhat defensive tone. "And with little funds for any substantial amount of supplies, we were admittedly unable to purchase much at the time. Goblins are considered bottom of the barrel in the list of creatures of danger level and offer the least monetary reward. Most of the higher rank adventurers typically work alone or only with others of similar rank."

The rest of the group nodded with apparent shared agreeance, aside from Priestess whose face was concealed from her downward lean.

"I see." I said, contemplative. "Regardless, it would have been wise to have discussed a more well put together plan then seek someone willing to help you, particularly one with experience with this type of work."

She stared without notable emotion in a moment of thought as if going to say something however instead looks off. Were she thinking over her mistake, and possibly felt some modicum of shame it seemed reasonable to assume that was the case. Definitely came across as the most snide and prideful of the bunch. Let her set things in.

Priestess moved from her previous spot, her knee high boots tapped lightly against the floor behind me, now standing by my side. I glanced over to her slightly before turning again to the girls in front of me. Best free them, then what to do next will be along the path to the nature of this situation.


	2. Other Earth, New Frontier

Warring Enigma: Operation Fantasy Gate

Chapter 2: Other Earth, New Frontier.

Near Cave Exit

Cutting them free with my knife from the wooden boards I carefully handled the girls I had a hold of which then the others followed suit making our way back through the cave system. Next to do was find the nearest residence such as a town or city of some kind and drop these girls off. I'd then plan on breaking off with this group, and set off on my own again. Contacting Genysis was first on my list and hopefully he would pick up my signal then we'd meet up at some point shortly. For now I'd stick with this bunch until they and the girls we rescued were safe. Everyone carried or supported each of the female's movements as they were far too weakened to do so on their own- Warrior and Fighter supported a girl with short auburn hair, while Priestess and Wizard girl helped shoulder one with light brown hair. On my shoulders were the other remaining two, one blonde and another with dark hair. I of course made sure to deactivate my particle barrier for the time being-didn't want to bring back charred corpses. Up ahead through the illumination of my helmet's lightbeam and Warrior's torch, some areas of the tunnel were beginning to become lit by light from the outside world.

"Where is the nearest residence?" I asked, glancing at the group walking behind me. "As in a location of civilized society like a town or city? On this planet possibly?" I mentioned "planet" as I didn't want to immediately assume there was one in this world. I still wasn't certain whether this was even Earth or not despite these kids having oddly antiqual equipment.

No one responded right away, notably and expectedly sharing brief puzzled looks at one another. Apparently thinking nothing else of it they didn't give any other further response, and Warrior was the one to reply and speak up.

"Well we originally made our way from Frontier Town." he replied with a small smile. "That's where the Adventurer's Guild is located."

"How far off is it?" I asked.

"About 6 miles south. We took the gravel trail from the outskirts, past the rocky hills and then through the large woodlands." he answered.

I nodded. "Alright then. We'll head there."

Outside cave; Center of Forest

Several minutes passed as we made our way through the last stretches of the cave tunnels using both the adventurers footprints and recollection as well as my own sensors to aid in navigation. Soon later we approached the cave exit, the rays of the noon sunlight shone down and the calming sounds of nature greeted us. Looking around at the outside setting I saw that we appeared to be present within a visibly large forest, specifically a small opening with a clear view of the sky above, and directly ahead exposed rock of high-rising land. Briefly noticing the totem next to the entrance, I turned to the left of the large rock immediately spotting a narrow path that cut through a small valley. In that instance before proceeding anywhere, I raised my arm and referred to the UIT wanting to see if any new information, particularly about the transmission signal had been updated-unfortunately, it seemed unable to pick up any new signal or really any signal frequency for that matter. Even my ship's onboard comms array wasn't showing as the icon representing it wasn't visible. I looked to the clear, blue sky staring confused and puzzled. What the hell was going on? As I drifted into a deep, ponderous state one of the teens snapped me out. I glanced behind me, squinting and focusing on Fighter who I figured was the one who, like the others, had concerned and confused looks on their faces.

"You okay there Merc? You spaced out again."she asked

I look up to the sky then back to her. "Yeah I'm fine." I replied in a dull tone. "Just waiting for someone...or more accurately something"

As expected they shot me puzzled looks. Warrior spoke up on behalf of the group's collective thoughts.

"You're waiting for someone? Who?" asked Warrior, his voice curious. "Also what is that "thing" on your wrist?" he finished saying and began to point his finger.

Looking at him, pausing momentarily I just shook my head."It's not immediately important." I answered, ignoring his latter question. "Forget I mentioned it." I finished. Truthfully didn't plan on spending half an hour answering one question only to lead to another, and it obviously wasn't the time or place for it. I avoided divulging too much information about me or my equipment. Also I had 4 battered and exhausted girls to worry about. With that aside I looked to the path off to my 10 O'clock turning back to the group."You said North, correct? Is this path right here the one you took? Through this small valley?" I asked, making a slight head gesture.

Warrior nodded in response. "Yep. That's the one." he replied. "It'll be a few hours trip through the forest, and past the rocky hills until we get to the grassy plains where the gravel trail is.

I stared thoughtfully at him and then at the girls I was carrying.

"Well. Then we'll need to pick up the pace." I replied. "Let's go. No need to be in formation but stay close. Hopefully we can find a more efficient means of transporting these classes."

They exchanged looks then turned to me nodding in acknowledgement.

Turning my attention forward, I started to move towards the pathway leading the party along with unconscious girls we rescued further into the confines of the dense forest ahead. Seeing that my party had minimal means of defense, I reached for my magnum pulling it from the magnetic holster fitted on my right thigh armor plate. My right arm was free as I was able to effectively hold the girl's in place by pressing one part of my left arm against the legs of the left girl and held the other on my right shoulder by simultaneously pressing and gripping the legs with my hand. I wanted to move at a quicker pace while not intending to cause any harm to them from their bodies momentum impacting my armor, so I tried my best to be careful while I moved.

I kept my head on a swivel constantly maintaining a switch between my motion sensor and that of my own eyes' visual feedback. While the valley itself was narrow and didn't seem to be very long, the high-rise land between us wasn't something I was keen on neglecting, as anything in those areas of the forest would undoubtedly use these trees to hide and stalk. Valleys even more so this small scale would be ripe for possible ambushes, and regardless of the short stretch I made sure to be cautious while moving.

The land bordering us gradually declined, and very shortly later the ground was much more leveled with better visibility of the rest of the forest's interior. As we were walking into more flat land, I slightly loosened the tension of my guard; I still maintained an active vigilant and observant behavior but at least I could more easily react to any form of hostility that might try to sneak up on us. Forests were nice to have a calm walk through, but in terms of battlefield tactics and strategy they were the areas of geography that were the lowest on my list of combat settings. Trees are decent cover against most small arms, but if the enemy is smart and heavily outnumbers you, so many different angles of possible engagement and one can expect to be surrounded and quickly overwhelmed. I'm familiar with this all too well-also it doesn't help if the opposing forces are a multi-trillion credit PMC that can just send endless waves of heavy armor and airsupport at you. Most of the time any battle I've fought inside a lush forest or jungle winds up looking worse than the surface of the moon in the aftermath. And that's for one guy, and they barely know I exist. Excessive and stupid? Yes. Do they care? Probably not.

So far the time we spent in the forest confines was going fairly smooth, and we continued to head North with nothing noteworthy occuring, in fact it was somewhat soothing with the chirping of birds passing here and fro providing an atmosphere of liveliness and the whistle of flowing wind giving off a sort of calming feel. I'd go and even say it was serene-but also...eerie at the same time, and I wasn't certain why. Was I overthinking things? Maybe. I did have a tendency of being rather paranoid, of course to varying degrees. That was to be expected when you always operate alone in a perpetually dangerous and hostile field. Didn't exactly help matters when my mind was under constant threat of being perverted and harrased. It always seemed aware and knowing what my next action was. I shook my head and tried not to think about it, it was all over and done with-I hoped.I shrugged off setting those types of thoughts aside; I needed to maintain a cool and focused mind. I was basically a glorified babysitter at this point but I'd try to protect these kids as best I could, even if I was secretly uncomfortable doing it.

We had covered a little under a kilometer at that point, though it was pretty evident there had still been a considerable amount of forest to pass through as the treeline seemed fairly far off. I could imagine the bunch was already exhausted as it was and add to that the girls we saved were in even worse shape, undoubtedly starving and dehydrated. I knew full well we'd need to get there sooner however our incremental pace didn't exactly help with that. I ran different possible solutions in my head as we went. What sounded like stomach growling briefly disrupted my train of thought. I glanced back to see it was from Warrior.

"Ah man. I'm starving, I haven't eaten since this morning." he moaned, his stomach growling more noticable. "Vomiting earlier really emptied my bowels."

"Me too." said Fighter, her own stomach ache becoming evident. "Also gross. Didn't need to know that."

I noted their complaints, and while I did feel a little bad, the priority was getting to our destination and ultimately delivering these girls into safe hands. Glancing back at them, I gave a slight nod as a sign of acknowledgement as well as a gesture to lift themselves up as per result of recognized authority.

They acknowledged this quickly transitioning from a slouched, sluggish posture to one more visibly focused and composed.

Interestingly, I found some modicum of satisfaction from this causing me to twitch a tiny smirk under my helmet; I guess it was a feeling of apparent obedience and cooperative behavior which was nice but also the sense of respect was appreciated.

A blip appeared suddenly on the motion sensor, causing me to momentarily tense. I gave the party a signal to halt movement, which they immediately understood and followed suit. Turning from them, I look in the direction of where the blip was; I slowly scanned in the general area where the movement was detected. Immediately some brush to our 2 O'Clock catches my attention, as the HUD recognizes this as the source of movement and highlights it;I squinted my eyes as the foliage shaked, raising my magnum in a preparatory manner. I aimed, holding my finger on the trigger ready to fire at the first indication of danger. However before I was about to fire, I saw the head of not one but three creatures popping up from behind the brush.

"Huh. It's just a deer."said Warrior, stating the blatantly obvious.

I glanced back at him, noting his and the others lack of visible expression which I interpreted as an unspoken and implied confusion of my seemingly overreactive response. I thought nothing of it, turning my attention back to the fauna before me.

"Yea. Nothing to be concerned over." I said, moderately annoyed by the false alarm.

Staring down with the antlered creatures momentarily, they twitch their ears then instinctively break from the foliage, galloping away from us further into another area of the forest. I watched them as they went until completely disappearing from view; I squinted, contemplating while I stared in that general direction. With the area clear and seeing zero movement on the motion sensor, I glanced to my rear at the group, giving a slight head jerk as a signal to move forward. I held my magnum firmly in hand directing it in an upright angle with my arm closed tightly against me, eyeing the part of the woods where those deer ran to. As we continued to advance, I gradually steered my attention away the further the distance was gained between there until I subconsciously ceased my sight of it entirely. I hadn't been sure why but something about watching those startled deer running off and disappearing out of view into another part of the forest triggered an odd sensation in the back of my mind. Maybe it was something to do with the unknown outcomes, almost like a case of "Schrodinger's cat" phenomena. Bizarre, inexplicable occurrences were things I had grown accustomed too. Sort of.

"Hey Merc? You mind if you ask what that thing in your hand is?"asked Warrior behind me. "I know it's a weapon of some kind."

I glanced back at him, confused. "A firearm,"I answered. _He didn't know what a gun was? I understood these were just kids and were probably from some backwater colony, but were they possibly unaware of the existence of modern weaponry?_ "Specifically a handgun, or a magnum more precisely."

As expected him and the others looked both equally puzzled and curious.

"Firearm what's that?"asked Warrior again. "Does it shoot fire or something?"

My face contorted in bewilderment from how ludicrous that sounded. I briefly glanced back at him, my eyes squinting in question. It was fairly evident he had never seen nor heard of a gun or any other kind of firearm for that matter. I imagined the same was true for the others as well.

"No. Not fire..well not exactly." I replied, more so confused then annoyed. "A gun or firearm is a weapon that launches small- normally - metallic projectiles via highly-pressured gas produced by a process known as deflagration, or exothermic combustion of a chemical propellant. These projectiles or bullets are essentially propelled from the weapon by miniature explosions."

"Tiny explosions?! How?" he asked, in disbelief. "And those weapons on your back? Are those guns too?"

"Science" I replied. "And yes, they're different types of firearms."

"Woah." he said, awed. "Hey um... do you think one of these days I…"

I glanced back, immediately responding. "No."

"Oh. Okay then." he responded, chuckling nervously. "Forget I asked."

"My weapons are heavily modified versions." I explained. "I don't permit others to handle my equipment, as much of it is extremely sophisticated and one of a kind. Also they are tools purely designed for killing, and can be extremely dangerous if mishandled."

"Hehe..right. Got it." he muttered, in a submissive tone, defeated.

Squinting at him somewhat beratively, I shook my head slightly before turning forward again. I wasn't particularly mad or even irritated towards him, and his curiosity was to a degree moderately amusing. Truthfully, it was really the fact this had been an aspect of a greater situation which had me flustered. My presence would be bound for all sorts of scenarios with confused, suspecting individuals lining up with all kinds of questions-and suffice it to say I was at all looking forward to that. I'd need to gather information that might help me understand this world and possibly anything regarding the events that led me here. Ultimately, I wanted to do this without exposing too much information regarding my identity, my objectives, and maybe most importantly my equipment-I'd be damned if anyone got any ideas to attempt replicating my weapons and technology. In that case I'd have to be careful with my methods, and if required-cold.

A little while later I started to notice the forest treeline appeared to be thinning as we went, and the further we progressed I began to pick up something through my helmet's earphones. Signaling to the party to stop, I took a brief moment to listen in, filtering out any unnecessary noise pollution that interfered with what I was trying to single out. It didn't take long to figure out what the noise was, which I made out a continuous series of splashes and slushing- a moderately sized river seemed to be active up ahead and judging from the decibel dispersal it couldn't have been too far away. Moving again I saw that the topography on the motion sensor was updated to display the outline and shape of the river, which soon came into view. Naturally, our party halted as we approached the body of water. I squinted then turned to face Warrior.

"You didn't mention anything about a river?" I said, moderately annoyed. "This is the correct direction, am I wrong?"

Unresponsive momentarily, he spoke seemingly caught off guard. "Oh-um...No, this the right way." he replied, rubbing the back of his head, chuckling. "Funnily enough we took a longer route around the river. There's a bridge that crosses the river, it's near a popular fishing spot."

I narrowed my eyes becoming somewhat vexed. "And you didn't bother to mention that?" I scolded him.

He contorted a nervous smirk. "My mistake, sorry."

Shaking my head in disapproval I turned to look forward to the river before us. Taking a few steps ahead of the group, I stood at the edge of one of the banks that flanked the river body; I proceeded to scan the river analyzing it for the nature of its contents and as well as calculating its estimated measures and velocity of the water flow. From one direction of the river then tracing in the reverse in the opposite direction, I let the scanner intake information while the numerous computers interpreted and calculated the provided data, of which this process lasted for a duration of a few seconds. Once finished, I looked over each of the minimized windows that contained each of the data corresponding to the respective category.

**Water Body type: River**

**Estimated length: 25km West, 18km East**

**Width: 10m**

**Depth: 2.14m**

**Flow velocity: 12km/h North**

**Biological material/Life signs: Positive**

Those results were about in line with what I was expecting, so I didn't think much of it even if the river itself was a little larger than anticipated but it wasn't necessarily anything to be overly concerned over.

I turned to the group behind me. "Any of you up for a little swim?" I joked.

They shot me confused and looked unsure if I was being legitimately serious or simply fooling around with them. One of them seemed to get the hint and gave an unspoken confirmation to the others. Or so it seemed.

"So uh…..you're not being serious?" asked Warrior, clearly not understanding the tone of my voice. "Are you?"

The Wizard girl shot him an annoyed glare. "Clearly not." she said, in a notably berative manner. She sighed then looked at me. "So what do you suppose we do? Are we going to find another way around or have you already thought of another means to cross the river?" she paused for a moment if about to speak, pushing up her glasses then squinting. "Let me guess. You already have something in mind?"

I stared briefly, withholding an immediate response. "I do." I replied, my tone serious. "I'll show you something. Observe."

They each sent me puzzled and curious expressions, looking at one another clearly wondering in anticipation as to what I was going to do.

I raised my left wrist, examining my UIT in contemplation as well as mounting reluctance. Thoughts on my decision to further expose more of my identity and the extent of my technology bogged down on my mind as I questioned my own reason. I clutched my hand decisively; I then proceeded to survey my surroundings within the confines of the forest interior in search of a large object with a sufficient surface area to span the width of the river. With my head on a swivel I looked around and scanned various objects via an array of camera sensors within the visor of my helmet; I did this for several seconds reading the data collected and interpreted by the bi-lateral computer systems, the information stored and displayed inside corresponding windows. Somewhere further off inside the forest an object was highlighted by the HUD, I squinted my eyes at whatever was in that general direction immediately beginning to head there gesturing the others to remain in place. Walking a few dozen meters from my position I came to the bank of a large depression, and inside rested a huge boulder occupying much of the volume, barely jutting above the rim. I read over the data acquired from it, which indicated it was of an adequate size.

"That ought to do." I said, with dulled satisfaction.

Tagging the rock as a target I extended my arm outward and opened my hand; I immediately followed with a clutching motion once the Alternate magnetic polarization flow had taken hold, then proceeded to shift the massive rock around until I dislodged it. Earth rustled off and broken rock crunched upon removal, I then suspended the boulder several meters off the ground transitioning into a reverse motion as I began to carefully pull it towards me. I slowly walked backwards, maneuvering myself in such a fashion I could orientate my position to effectively navigate through the trees without hitting any of them. From there I held the boulder in front of me and then began to head back to the river. Returning to the group I didn't pay too much attention to them however I could hear them immediately gasping, their stunned looks seemed to physically bore into me. I ignored them for that moment, stopping in place right at the river bank; I didn't plant the boulder anywhere in the river before me instead I turned my sight further down the water body, remotely guiding the rock until it was 300 meters downward. Tagging a rock cluster as a reference marker, I gradually drew the boulder back towards me until there was a gap of a few meters between me and it. Establishing an imaginary launch point I brought my arm back in a coil motion, twisting my body as I took a step backward getting into a more ready, stabilized posture. I gestured to the group to move away,and watching them hastily do so I waited until they were at a safe distance away, spotting them observing behind some trees. Taking that as an all clear I narrowed my eyes focusing on the target area down ahead. In an instant I thrusted my arm forward and inversely twisted my body as if I were delivering a punch, expelling stored kinetic energy like a heavily compressed spring. An extraordinarily loud thunder roared as the rock screamed through the air, generating a powerful sonic boom as it accelerated into velocities exceeding supersonic barriers, the gusts of explosive air damaging and even completely blowing apart several trees while traveling. Almost instantly upon making its mark, the impact energy released generates a massive shockwave that launches hundreds of tons of dirt and rock several dozens of meters into the air, rapidly outward expanding air carrying a thick dust cloud in all directions. In hindsight, I probably should have been more considerate with the outcome.

"Yea. I expected this result." I said, blandly, admittedly cringing a bit on the inside. "Well shit. Think I went a bit overboard."

Fortunately, I could still make out the teen's movement as their dots on the motion tracker were still visible indicating they were in fact still alive-but also probably scared shitless. Examining the aftermath the area looked exactly how it would if a few hundred tons of TNT were set off, at least more so within the area of impact. The portion of the river closest to the impact site widened the most considerably, the banks nearest to me were gradually lessened in effect, though the shockwave which had followed pushed out some of the water in the body and saturated the ground from the impact area down to several dozens of meters west. A large amount of water had overflowed enough to leave a thin film which quickly spread and dissipated, so the group that were some distance behind me were unlikely to be caught in the flow much less be carried off by it.

I waited in place while the rest of the party gradually made their way towards me, their minimal pace result of having to walk over the thick mud. A few minutes passed before they soon reached me, their faces immediately contorted into utter shock at the sight of the aftermath.

"What the hell happened here?!"question Warrior. "Looked like a meteor crashed into the earth!"

The Wizard girl looked around wide-eyed. "That rock? What did you do with it?" she asked, sounding equally curious and angry. "Was that some form of magic?"

I shook my head. "Negative." I replied, raising my arm to showcase my UIT. "I used psionic emission to shoot the boulder into the river in an attempt to establish a point of traversal."

Her face turned into a bright shade of red. "You almost killed us!" she spat angrily. "Little excessive to just cross a river, don't you think?."

Staring at her without responding, I turned to the Priestess who made a small barely noticeable gesture as if reluctantly trying to draw attention to herself.

"It was...um...an accident. I think." she said, in her suppressed nervous demeanor. "Even if it was..um...rather destructive."

"Whatever the case ...that was AWESOME!" blurted out Warrior, going from shock to utter astonishment. "What was that? And how did you do it?!"

The other party members snapped their attention to him, totally dumbfounded. I myself was also surprised but to a more moderate degree amused as well.

"Psionic Emission." I answered. "I'll explain it another time. Let's move out, we still have quite a bit of ground to cover."

I made a hand signal instructing the party to move forward; I started to advance noticing a brief initial pause as though the group seemed hesitant,a few seconds later the sound of mud slushing underneath footsteps quickly followed after. I was beginning to become under the impression that the group might have started developing some degree of uncertainty and even a moderate amount of apprehension. Looking around at the field of damage woodland left in the wake of impact, in retrospect, I didn't exactly blame them because in reality I wasn't at all used to being around civilians and I did have some rather sporadic...destructive tendencies. If they were any closer they all would have undoubtedly died, and likely been wiped completely from existence. I couldn't help but find the circumstance oddly humorous however I also scolded myself somewhat for lacking the foresight and the evident recklessness. In hindsight, I think I could have maybe just tried to plant the rock by slamming it into the river or even possibly crossing that bridge Warrior mentioned earlier by being a little more patient and simply walking there. In any case I wasn't going to think much more of it, wasting time dwelling on it and there had been much of the road ahead yet to travel.

Up ahead, walking inside the main impact zone it was immediately apparent the destruction was much more visually extensive, land opened up as a result of the dozens of fallen trees on either side of the river. I looked around to see if I could spot any animal carcasses lying around from any of the fauna that might of been caught inside the shockwave; I didn't recall picking up any movement signatures earlier and there wasn't anything new showing on the motion sensor which indicated there was no wildlife present within the area. With that aside, we approached the actual crater itself, the rock which created it was entirely intact, embedded into the ground with earth unevenly piled up on the western side of the rock.

"Wait? Is that the rock you launched?" asked Warrior, disbelief apparent in his tone.

"That's the one." I replied, casually.

"Woah. That's insane!" he uttered, dramatically. "So much destruction."

I chuckled lightly, finding it humorous given the circumstances. My attention was drawn to the Wizard girl when I heard an _ahem _coming at her.

"Yes it is." she said, her tone indiscernible. "Now tell me, Merc. What type of magic did you utilize to cast- _what did you call it? _Psionic Emission? Who or whom did you learn it from? Only the most experienced and well-versed Wizards and Witches could cast such a spell." she finished, now sounding more notably curious.

I squinted, reacting to her question, puzzled. "No one." I answered, bluntly. _I figured a question like that was going to be asked eventually. _"_There is no 'magic' per se, _that's not how it works_. _Simple process as result of scientific and technological applications...okay maybe not '_simple' _but nothing supernatural."

There was a lack of response from her, which I assumed was a result of her comprehending my answer. Didn't seem far-fetched to imagine she was unsure of how to interpret what I was saying; I was beginning to question whether or not if science in its most basic sense even existed, it had to some extent or possibly some kind of rudimentary alchemic equivalent. Considering whatever they call "_Magic" _exists, there had to be some established system of processes that caused whatever phenomena to be manipulated in order for these artificially generated effects to occur. I'd need to learn about that at a later date, and I didn't plan on explaining the intricacies of my own abilities and tech. I wasn't certain of her facial expression, maintaining sight ahead of me but whatever the case I'd let her marinate her thoughts. The others seemed to just go with the flow of the situation, not speaking and keeping any thoughts to themselves.

"Hmph. I see, Interesting." she spoke, her voice dull with possible subtle undertones of disbelief and uncertainty. "So, if it isn't achieved through casting any form of spell or incantation then is it done by practicing alchemy? Do you have any affiliation with any reputable craftsmen, or anything else of that kind?"

_Keeping those questions coming huh? Should have expected this was going to happen. Was beginning to see that not only her but also her friends evidently didn't understand the concept of any form of Engineering or R/D, which was still bizarre in of itself. Some part of my mind had already started to theorize and draw conclusions, and it wasn't that I was unable to see something about this situation was off. Still, I would reserve any immediate judgements until I saw more of this world for myself. As for the current moment, I'd be sparse in my explanations of myself and anything regarding my objectives. Truthfully, I didn't mind being in company with this bunch and a portion of me did feel I could be somewhat liberal with some non-essential pieces of information. _

I glanced over my shoulder, she wasn't looking directly at me but still likely expected an answer from me. My attention was on her for a moment before I turned forward again.

"Not quite" I answered, monotone. "But there is a similar aspect, part of an overall process. Lots of extensive research and development, along with complex mechanical engineering."

"Hmm. Those are disciplines I'm not quite familiar with." she replied, her tone suggesting acknowledgement and contemplation. "I may have to continue my studies of the sage arts and speak to my former teachers on the intricacies of any incantations similar to that. I would like to know more later if permitted."

"I'll think about it." I said, bluntly. _Hopefully that was the last of the questions about my gear for the time being. _

With that then, we came to the crater which wasn't a simple bowl but an elongated depression due to mostly being the result of impact inside the river, much of the volume had been filled by the water that had overflowed into it. I eyed the buildup of earth caused by the boulder's residual momentum, which appeared to form somewhat of a rudimentary bridge of sorts. Visually it seemed of adequate enough size and shape to set foot on, which granted still had water passing over on each point where it would connect to either side of the river, though they were relatively small portions and not dismissing it a viable means of traversal. I walked ahead and pressed around the surface judging whether or not it felt stable. Deeming it to be so, I stepped back and looked to the group, deciding who I wanted to crossover first; I felt my eyes veer towards Warrior, nodding as an indication for him to go.

He nodded. "Okay. I'll go first."

Briefly looking at the girl he held with concern, he headed towards the crescent shaped mound. I narrowed my eyes as he set foot and began to cross over, watching him carefully walk over until he was on the other side. He turned to us, and gave a thumbs up as a sign of safe passage. From there I motioned to the rest to go one by one- Fighter was next, then Wizard girl went shortly after, and then finally after a few moments of reluctance Priestess started to move, gradually and very cautiously until she eventually passed unto the opposite side. Funnily enough, I was somewhat partial to the idea that this wouldn't have been a viable means to cross the river but evidently it was much more stable than it looked-I half expected the pressure of the waterflow to break apart the mound that formed as the barrier, and thusly the makeshift 'bridge'.

On the other side they patiently waited, expecting me to start setting foot on the crater mound, however, I halted and before I could do anything else I noticed that the soil piled up against the boulder began to shake, quickly separating and breaking apart until inevitably dissolving into the river. I saw the group's eyes widen slightly as they watched in surprise, looking back at me as though wondering what I was to do in response. The river flowed back into its original state, albeit at a lower water level due to an increase in berth as a result of the impact. Seeing that the rock was still visible through the water and unmoving, I leapt from the bank onto the boulder then proceeded to jump from that and land onto the opposite bank of the river. I turned to the party who shot me surprised, and impressed looks; I did just clear 30 feet worth of river berth so I guess that was to be expected. With a motion signal then, I instructed the group to advance as I started to move forward, heading back into the confines of the forest interior.

At this point we had been traveling for about 90 minutes since we initially left the cave, covering a little over 4km over that time, and approximately ⅔ the way through the forest. From time to time I'd check my UIT to see if I had picked up any familiar signals, or any signals for that matter, of which I didn't, still nothing but the data already stored in the harddrive or whatever data the system passively accrued from the surrounding environment. Admittedly, I was beginning to become a tad more annoyed at the inconvenience of the situation, still constantly questioning the nature of the events that caused me to wind up on this planet for some unknown reason. As much as I would have liked to contact Genisys, I knew that wouldn't be worth the effort considering whatever signal I was transmitting hadn't been received by any communtion source that might be able to do so. Aside from that, I understood from what the teens had told me that there was some form of colony present on this planet, and particularly a number of towns or other settlements other than the current one we're traveling to that were around. I was partial to transmitting a signal to one of these supposed 'towns' but of course that wasn't a logical avenue considering they were no existing signals detected to begin with. Either the communications network was shut down, or there wasn't any present on this planet-I wasn't exactly sure what to think and while asking the teens for any relevant information was on the fringe of my mind, I couldn't help but feel indecisive about asking. Maybe because it had to do with the possibility of being thought of deluded or crazy. Regardless, it pulled at my mind. I'd search for more answers after I split up with this group.

Despite my multitude of questions I'd refrain from sharing my thoughts and keep any of that relevant information to myself. Let things marinate a while.

That in mind, our trip through the forest proved to be mostly uneventful for the meantime with only the occasional herd of deer galloping off when we got too close or others just simply passing by, as well as the frequent bustling of small woodland creatures scurrying across the forest floor. I expected extremely minimal chances of encountering any form of resistance, at least not within the forest; I knew beyond the treeline was rough terrain laden with rocky hills as mentioned by Warrior and beyond that the plains that led straight to the gravel road connecting to at least one of the settlements. Unless WarCorp or any other PMC happened to be occupying this world, I'd imagine the likelihood would be slim that I'd otherwise encounter anything along the way between here and there. Even still, we'd have a couple more hours of walking time until we eventually arrived there, and considering the condition of the girls we carried didn't exactly permit a consistently speedy pace. Need to find a more efficient means to transport them, and I'd use psionic emission to do so-just had to find a sturdy piece of material with sufficient enough surface area.

While looking around for such, I noticed the ground beneath had started to incline dipping into lower level land. It hadn't been very long before we came to another valley similar to the one we passed through earlier, though this was noticeably larger in size. To say my guard shot up would have been an understatement, as a valley such as this seemed to have 'ambush hotspot' written all over it. I wasn't necessarily comfortable with the idea of leading children into an area that might have been ripe for potentially dangerous activity, or what I would guess just based on the geographic layout and its proximity to the main area of commerce. My suspicions seemed to be reinforced by the looks on the teens faces, who appeared rather anxious and even apprehensive.

"Something concerning, You?" I asked in a calm, interrogative tone. "Is this place giving you warning signals"

They didn't immediately respond while continuing to look around warily, though I imagine they did hear me and acknowledged what I said and were likely thinking of what they were going to say next. I glanced back at who I was anticipating to say something.

"I don't remember anything specific," said Warrior. "But, there is some hearsay about alleged bandit activity happening somewhere in these parts of the woods."

I narrowed my eyes, slightly annoyed. "No mention of this, I see." I scolded him.

He shrunk his stature in apparent embarrassment or apologetic shame, looking away in a different direction. From him I turned to Priestess, her expression suggestive of information she evidently wanted to share. I nodded to her as to provoke a response, causing her to clutch her staff and recoil slightly.

"Um….." she replied, starting to explain. "Before we left the Adventurer's Guild, another adventurer who happened to stop by informed us about a bandit gang. He mentioned that a bandit leader and his crew were quite prolific, operating in these very woods, stalking and attacking would be passersby." she swallowed nervously. "Resulting in their deaths and reaping whatever possessions the travellers had."

"Do you believe what he said?" asked Fighter, sounding not necessarily dismissive but also not entirely convinced. "Wasn't he like an obsidian rank or something?"

Priestess gave a slight nervous nod. "If I recall correctly, yes."

"Is there any real reason to believe them?" asked the Wizard girl, her tone blunt and with evident dismissal. "He didn't look all that experienced anyway, and besides, he might have just been trying to scare us. Maybe he was planning on taking the quest we are currently on, and he said that to provoke second thoughts."

Everyone aside from Priestess exchanged looks of agreement, as though content with the probability of it being hearsay.

"Besides, we got Merc to protect us." said Warrior, gesturing to me. "With someone like him on our side, we won't have to fear anything!"

Fighter and Warrior chuckled, while Wizard girl shook her head, everyone besides Priestess brushed it off as a rumor and thought no more of it. Priestess herself wasn't entirely sure, she looked at me wondering what I thought about it, and she likely assumed I shared the same sentiment. I certainly didn't want to treat the possibility lightly, however, with that in mind; I didn't exactly want to jump to conclusions and deem it as a definite scenario. After all, there was only one source for this, a single person who I knew nothing about. Regardless, I wouldn't deny the possibility and would continue with caution.

"Hearsay or not. Be vigilant." I said, authoritatively. "We should proceed with caution. This valley could be a potential hotspot for ambushes." I noted the apprehension developing in their facial expressions. They were already anxious and weary as is from fighting goblins inside those caves, and transporting these girls who were unconscious and in poor condition only made things more complicated. So the threat of murderous bandits didn't help cool their nerves. Whether or not we do encounter anything I'll make sure to keep all the attention on myself, and if any heat starts to develop I'll end it quickly. Seems we'd have a fair amount of time to worry about that. We had only spent a few minutes walking down the valley, which from where we started as far as I was able to see, I estimated it had to run another 1.5km until we'd see it end.

Silence was prevalent through our travel, calm and non-indicative but something about the scarcity of the sounds of nature were somewhat disconcerting. I maintained regular alertness, constantly surveying both sides of the valley, my eyes darted between all of the trees and whatever space as far back as I was able to see; I also consistently monitored my motion tracker, eyeing the dots representing our group's movement and whatever subtle vibrations triggered any flickering effects. So I haven't yet received any visual feedback, even still I was able to pick up data in the form of minute seismic activity and audio input being collected from the earphones. Initially, it was infrequent and rather inconsistent but it had been enough to be a notable object of attention; I wouldn't automatically discern this as a sign of hostile movement as those numbers could very likely be from small woodland creatures. I continued to listen in on any far off noise while separating any data pertaining to vibrations created by anything smaller than human size. More time had lapsed with nothing else changing, up until a point. I looked around at my surroundings and referred to the motion sensor as usual, though much of my attention was towards the data I continued to accumulate at more frequent intervals and at higher rates of detection, which was quickly beginning to indicate a visible pattern. Soon the same kind of activity with similar properties were detected on both sides of the valley, and even at points ahead as well as behind us with the computer systems calculating the approximate distances, directions, and positions, albeit relative to my own position. I wasn't entirely sure if there was activity actually present out there, though as much as I'd like to deduce it as a false alarm I thought it necessary to give the party a warning of a potential encounter.

"We may have an encounter." I warned, in a foreboding tone. "It's not a 100% confirmation but remain alert and maintain composure. Stay close to me."

"How do you know? There's nothing around?" questioned Warrior, his tone not sounding dismissive but rather puzzled, apparent concern noticeable in his voice.

I didn't answer him instead darting my sight between both sides of the valley; I wasn't entirely certain but I thought I was beginning to make out both footsteps and even what sounded like voices coming from afar. It hadn't been very long before the data being collected indicated a strong presence of activity, and soon parts of the motion sensor were starting to light up with a doppler effect of yellow flickers. There were numerous points of movement originating in different areas of the forest, or rather according to the data significant vibrative activity suggested such movement which was just on the cusp of detection range of the motion tracker. I hadn't yet spotted anything within visual range but I began to easily make out multiple successions of footsteps along with several voices exchanging information on exactly what I had been anticipating. Multiple blips began to pop up from movement being traced within the trees on both sides of the valley. I clutched my magnum, aiming downrange between both sides of the valley in anticipation of the movement being detected on the motion tracker which showed blips rapidly closing in on our position. _Might these be those bandits Priestess mentioned earlier? No visual, but there were more than a few individuals around and they were creeping towards us. Was it possible they were tracking us this entire time? Seemed unlikely, then again the loud raucous that was caused by me launching that huge boulder into the river might have drawn them to us._ I ponder over the possibility

Turning behind me, I began to see that the group had become increasingly more alert, starting to look around in apparent anxiousness. Just like me, they were aware or at least suspected that a presence was approaching us.

"Hey, uh ...guys." muttered Warrior, his voice lowered to a whisper. "Do you feel like someone is watching us? I'm getting that strange feeling."

"Now that you mention it. I do." chimed Fighter, sharing his sentiment.

"Do you think we were being followed?" said Wizard Girl

Priestess like I was silent, she clutched her staff nervously as she looked around frantically.

"I-I think I hear voices…..and footsteps." she whispered. "A lot of them."

Her companions shot worried, anxious looks at her then between one another; they apparently weren't immediately certain but quickly accepted the likelihood and seemed to have no further denial of the situation. They all turned to me, expectantly, waiting for my input and instruction.

Without a word, I gave two hand signals- a closed fist indicating them to remain in position and then a following gesture, bringing a finger to my helmet instructing them to remain silent. Their faces were blank but since none of them spoke or moved I assumed they understood my command. I snapped my attention forward, narrowing my eyes to both sides of the valley, eyeing the motion sensor as the blips appeared to stop in place. Waiting for a moment, I immediately raised my magnum as I watched multiple men emerge from the treelines on either side of the valley causing the teens to gasp. Most of the men break off, sliding down the slope of the valley banks while several remain in place up above with bows drawn on us. Men armed with various swords and daggers quickly started to encircle us as they approached-I already make a note of their expressions which evidently showed they hadn't encountered someone like me before, especially the armor I was cladded in and the weapons I possessed. They were clearly taken aback in surprise and shock, even demonstrating reluctance despite their numerical superiority-even though in reality that didn't mean much and if I was going to frank their primitive weapons would be laughably ineffective against my combat suit. The kids were my concern.

As the bandits held their positions with weapons drawn at the ready, stances and expressions reluctant but hardened it was apparent they were ordered to not make any more moves, which turned out to be the case. Very shortly later, I watched as two more blips appeared on the motion sensor approaching from North and South of the valley trail, directly in front and to the rear of us. There was a sound of galloping, presumably from horses coming from either direction, whistling from the North drew some of the assailants' attention.

"That's far enough!" a distant male voice commanded. His horse and that of another's huffed as both individuals dismounted, one of them, presumably, that of the boss's footsteps crunched against the ground while making their way towards us. "Move aside, let me get a good look at the catch!" he ordered, with some of the closer subordinates breaking away in response. Upon seeing us( or me to be precise) the bandit leader widened his eyes and recoiled slightly. "Damn! Who's this? Never seen armor like that before!" yelped the bandit boss, surprised.

"We thought the same thing, boss. These weapons too." said a red haired man. "This lad might give us some serious trouble."

"Yea, boss. What should we do?" asked another man with light brown hair.

While the dumbasses conversed amongst themselves I looked around getting a head count and seeing each of the bandit's loadout. It was evident they were trying to surround us and choke any movement or maneuver that we might make; they established two layers of attack to deter any close or long range engagement. Eight men- about a squad's worth, were the first layer, each were armed with either daggers or swords which mostly consisted of various shortswords and a couple longswords all of them showing visible previous usage. Up on the banks hiding inside the treelines were archers, four of them all equally distant from one another in a square formation, these men would be the 2nd form of deterrence or attack in case the first was compromised. I don't think I was hard pressed to say these men were hardened and experienced from previous encounters, as apparent from the stains of their weapons and the fact there was a decently sized group of them as well as them being notably well-armed. Based on that and my motion sensor, I counted 14 men- 8 cqc, 4 archers, the 2nd in command and the Bandit leader. The latter appeared to be equipped with both types of weapons and of notably higher quality.

I eyed the leader, a man with short dark black hair, his face worn and grizzled accentuated by light stubble, and a lean physique as well as a notable stature being several inches taller than most of his men. Doing a bio-molecular scan, primarily utilizing a form of radiocarbon dating, the analysis showed he was around 37 years old and his men were roughly the same age range.

He rubbed his chin as though in contemplation, seemingly eyeing me as he did so. "Indeed, this is a tricky scenario." he said, with a devious look on his face. He then turned to the man behind us, presumably, his lieutenant or 2nd in command. "With that then, what do you think we should do in this case? I'm rather curious to hear your suggestion. " he chuckled, mischievously.

There was a series of footsteps crunching against the ground, I then glanced over my shoulder to see some of the men behind us broke up as they made way for the 2nd highest ranked member. In view came the lieutenant, a silver haired man, his angular face more youthful then his hair color suggested; he strut in a confident yet cold manner. He halted, proceeding to eye our group, his expression appeared emotionless and calculating. Without speaking, he turned his sight to the Priestess who squealed as he began to approach her, his movements suggesting he was going to grab her.

Acting almost instinctively, I snap my magnum towards him aiming directly at his head. "Touch her, and I won't hesitate to blow off your head." I growled, the modulator inside my helmet added bass to my voice making me sound robotic.

Much of the bandits, even the leader recoiled and gasped in shock. However, to my surprise, the lieutenant seemed unfazed as he continued to just gaze at me with that cold and unfeeling visage; he almost seemed to stare like he was looking directly into my soul, as if he understood I was as much a killer he was and we weren't totally dissimilar. He turned to Priestess and smiled before returning back to his original position. The bandits broke up again as he stopped directly in front of his horse, doing an about face to face the crowd again.

"Conditional proposition" he spoke, his tone blunt and professional. He seemed like a better authority figure then the supposed 'Leader'

Both the boss and the other crew members contorted confused looks, the rest of them directing their gazes to their leader. He seemed to ponder over it trying to comprehend what he meant.

The bandit leader smirked then chuckled. "I see." he replied, starting to scan over us, particularly over my weapons and what I assumed were the unconscious girls we carried. "A Trade of possessions for safe passage." he said, finishing with a suspicious wink.

His lieutenant nodded. "As such, yes."

He turned from him then to me. "From what I can already tell, I see fighting someone like you might not end well." he spoke in a calm tone, admitting they would likely all die attempting to scuffle with me. "But those youngins might also wind up dead, if any tussle were to occur. So I see it like this, I will refrain from ordering my men to kill your little group and allow you safe passage" he paused, chuckling. "In return, you hand over any coins that you collected and other possessions of monetary value ...also those weapons of yours."

I narrow my eyes, clutching my magnum tightly. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I even think about giving away my weapons." I replied, my tone low and foreboding. "Especially, lowly bandit scum like you. Go fuck yourself."

Swords clanked, drawn bows crunched as the bandits drew their weapons as they took this as a threat and not taking kindly to the insult. Simply chuckling, the bandit leader gestured to them to lower their weapons, his focus remaining on me.

"He's a feisty one." he remarked, mockingly. "Anyway, I wasn't finished." he paused as he narrowed his sight, beginning to solely focus on the girls we rescued. "I've heard a village was attacked a few days ago, a bunch of goblins raided the place and pillaged all the livestock and supplies- cloth, weapons…" he paused again, a small smirk creeping on his face. "Girls"

"No way in hell you creeps are taking these girls!" barked fighter.

"Yeah! Fat chance we let you get a hold of them!" chimed Warrior

Both Fighter and Warrior got into combat stances, a wave of energy flushing into them. Even the Wizard girl seemed ready for a fight, though her expression indicated she was contemplative and hesitant. Priestess was as expected much more reluctant, her form shrinking from nervousness and fear. I noted this, and gestured to the others to refrain from inciting any form of aggression ...if anyone was going to kill these bastards it would be me.

I turned to Wizard Girl. "Gust" I whispered.

Her eyes widened slightly before nodding. She proceeded to chant, the ethereal effects manifested from her staff, swirling it about and as a result circular drafts of wind were generated from the air around or what I assumed. Most of the bandits were too stunned or frightened to react including the leader who remained wide-eyed and frozen in place.

"Down!" I shouted, quickly grabbing hold of the rest of the group, shielding them from any incoming arrows which harmlessly bounced off of my armor plating.

"_Gust!" _shouted the Wizard girl.

Immediately, strong circular currents of wind spiraled out around us, blowing away all of the bandits that encircled and sending them several meters away unto their backs. I thrusted upward, utilizing psionic emission to remotely grab hold of one of the bandits closest to me, the sudden tug of force immediately snapping his spine and shattering all of the bones in the influenced area. I drew his corpse towards me, using it as a meat shield against the archers next volley- the body squelched as arrows impacted it, causing blood to splatter and ooze; I noted the archers horrified looks, smirking, I launched the corpse into the nearest one. He attempted to run off but failed to do so in time, a loud crack as both the body I used as a projectile and its target completely blew apart, splattering blood and viscera unto the tree he hid behind.

"All of you stay down!" I ordered. "You as well Wizard Girl!"

She didn't hesitate and immediately followed as instructed.

I redirected my attention back to the archers, I tagged each of them, a red outline highlighted their bodies; I aimed my magnum and pulled the trigger in rapid session before they could flee. A loud crack echoed as 13mm rounds flew downrange, all three shots landed accurately on their targets, each of the archers died instantly as their chests or heads exploded into red mist immediately disappearing from view and the motion sensor.

"What the hell is that damn booming noise?!" questioned the bandit leader, groggily, seemingly disorientated. "Goddamnit"

"Boss! We need to get the hell out of here!" urged one of his men. "This guy is no joke! All of the archers are dead! Him and that girl have some kind of magic!"

Most of the bandits started to flee once they got back on their feet, which I responded by firing my magnum at any of them in either direction, killing several until I ran out of ammunition in my current magazine. The clicking of my empty gun seemed to register with some of the bandits who seemed to take this as an opportunity to be bold; they drew their weapons and let out battlecries as they proceeded to charge at me with sudden foolish bravado. I cocked my head and squinted, confused by their stupidity; I decided to holster my magnum instead of reloading, alternatively, I extended my arm, grasping the closest bandit with psionic emission. I made a clutching gesture and crushed his head, squelching and crunching as it turned into a gory clump of meat. One of his friends nearest to him immediately screamed, dropping his sword, which I then responded by smashing the corpse of his buddy into him, the momentum and force carrying them both into one of the valley banks, lodging both of their bodies into the earth.

Seemingly coming to his senses, the remaining goon stopped. "Huh? What the…." he said looking around, his eyes widening, gasping in terror upon seeing the corpses of comrades lying as gory messes. "Oh hell…" he yelped, looking at me before attempting to flee in fear.

Chuckling, I pulled my knife from the magnetic sheathe and proceeded to trudge after him; I quickly caught up, grabbing hold of him by his shoulder, following up by driving my knife into his back and into one of his lungs. While he heaved for air, I clutched his head pulling it back then in one swift movement twirled the knife, proceeding to quickly slit his throat. Feeling the life rapidly drain as he gurgled and choked on his own blood, I lifted his body by the head and tossed it several meters as though it were trash. While clearing my knife off of blood via my particle barrier, I drifted my sight to the bandit leader who still seemed to be in the process of regaining his bearings.

Noticing me approaching him, his eyes shot open as he let out an audible gasp. "Son of a bitch" he muttered, crawling backwards along the ground in a frightened manner.

Resheathing my knife, I compressed my knuckles cracking them as I prepared to deliver some corporal threat neutralization; I smirked as he futilely covered his face with one of his arms bracing for his fate. Suddenly, I heard a crunch then a snap; I noticed a whistling coming from behind me then on the HUD a notification read 'Projectile Incoming' immediately flickered red. Confused, I turned around immediately noticing the arrow flying towards me, which I easily spotted and reacted to, simply catching the long-shaft projectile in my hand. I eyed the arrow for a moment in a puzzled manner, switching my attention to whoever fired it; I saw it was the silver haired lieutenant, shooting him a critical look as I snapped the arrow in two.

He widened his eyes in surprise and shock, momentarily stunned. In a quick motion he side-stepped towards Priestess, grabbing hold of her. "GO! I'll use this bitch as leverage!" he exclaimed.

"To hell with this!" the bandit leader cursed.

I glanced over my shoulder to see the bandit leader have fear and cowardice get the better of him, jumping up from his vulnerable state and frantically mounting back unto his horse.

"Shit" I muttered, irritated as I saw him quickly starting to flee away. I turned back to the lieutenant who held Priestess hostage, a dagger pressed threateningly against her neck.

"Make any sudden moves and I'll slit this little cunt's throat like a stock pig!" he barked, his eyes feral and his tone malevolent as well as psychotic. He continued to apply pressure as Priestess struggled.

From their low huddled positions, the others took notice of the raucous gasping as they saw Priestess in her helpless state.

"Let go of her, you monster!" yelled Fighter

"Damn bandit! Don't you dare hurt her!" barked Warrior, his energy causing him to lift himself off the ground and attempting to get into a fighting stance.

I gave hand signals instructing them to not be rash. "Don't attack him! He'll kill the Priestess if you approach him." I urged, speaking in a calm but elevated tone.

They looked at me in surprise and confusion but otherwise heeded my instruction, returning to their previous states and refraining from any further action. They sighed in defeat as they watched Priestess struggle, the bandit lieutenant clutching with greater pressure and intensity if anyone approached him any closer.

"P-please. Let me go." squealed Priestess, her voice cracking as she began to choke and cry.

He grit his teeth and gave her a malicious glare. "Silence you little cunt!" he hissed, visibly tightening his grip. He turned to me as he pressed his face against her head in a perverse, invoking fashion, a maniacal smirk crept on his mouth. "I have another proposition for you to consider. I'll release this dagger from the girl's throat and in return you let me go on my way. How's that?"

Without a word in response, I narrowed my eyes and focused directly on his hand- specifically his knife. The HUD recognized what I was looking at and tagged it. I extended my arm and opened the palm of my hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked, agitated and confused.

I gave a light chuckle "Relinquishing your knife."

Clutching my hand into a fist, I began to rotate my arm and as I did this I noted the bandit's growing confusion, smirking underneath my helmet. Once I saw confirmation that I had a hold, I rapidly made a reverse motion with my arm, utilizing psionic emission to disarm his dagger from him- there was a notable crunch and pop then an audible squelch as I also seemed to liberate his arm from his body. He seemed briefly unaware, likely from shock but very quickly realized his missing limb, letting out a loud shriek before falling backward yelling in agonizing pain and releasing Priestess. I eyed the severed limb for a moment, watching as blood dripped from it before walking up to it, prying the knife from the hand which still clasped it in post mortem muscle reflex. Tossing aside the arm, I snapped the dagger in two, separating it from the handle before throwing both pieces aside like the arm; I whistled to Priestess to get her attention.

She pushed herself off of the ground, looking behind her to the bandit lieutenant who lied on his back in excruciating pain causing her to let out a horrified gasp.

I whistle again. "Priestess. Behind me. Now." I ordered, gesturing to her.

She shot her attention towards me. "Oh-Okay!" she yelped, immediately running towards me without trying to look back.

Watching as she ran past and shrunk behind me, I directed my sight to the bandit who lay on the ground, and writhed about in his own pool of blood. He continued to cry in immense pain, cursing while clasping his wound as it bled profusely which I thought little of, grabbing hold of him and tearing his other arm away.

He shot me an enraged, psychotic stare before spitting blood into my faceplate. "YOU TORE OFF MY ARM, YOU BASTARD! UGGGHHH!" he growled, groaning in further pain, gurgling as he started to choke on his blood. "GO TO HELL!"

Somewhat annoyed I did not reply and simply wiped away the blood; I looked at him coldly, proceeding to grab hold of his other arm, twisting it as I applied pressure on opposite sides of the bicep and forearm until I heard an audible pop and snap. Crushing the bones and dislocating the joint, he shrieked again as his arm collapsed loosely unto the ground and as he looked at me in both anger and apparent ailment I hovered over him and clasped his head. Placing my hands on his chin and the back portion of his head, I pulled with upward force and then in one swift motion twisted his head, tearing the muscle and shattering the trachea as well as uppermost cervical vertebrae in his neck, a loud crack informing me sufficient damage was dealt. I watched as his eyes rolled back as the life left his body, a faint splash following as I dropped the corpse into the crimson puddle that saturated the soil beneath it. I stood upright, staring emotionlessly at the dead bandit lieutenant, watching as the blip disappeared from the motion sensor; I naturally found my sight drifting to the other blip which quickly neared the border of the motion sensor as the target reached maximum range of detection. Shocked gasps drew my attention, as the group behind me had gotten up off the ground beginning to catch sight of the aftermath, horrified expressions contorted on their faces as they looked around at the numerous corpses that lay strewn about- bloodied, battered or maimed.

"Oh man…..this is nuts." commented Warrior

"So many dead bodies." said Fighter

"D-Did he do this all on his own?" questioned Wizard Girl. "Are they all dead? There must be at least a dozen corpses lying around."

Their gazes drifted towards me as I approached, saying nothing as I passed them; I continued to walk down the southern way of the valley for several meters then stopping.

"There's still one more alive." I said, my sight still directed forward. "Their boss is on the move, trying to escape on his horse."

There was a short pause before someone spoke. "A-Are you going to kill him?" Priestess asked, her tone quiet yet notably indecisive. It was almost as if she was uncertain whether or not she should feel any compassion. "If so…. I-I won't question it."

I chuckled, rather surprised by her lack of emotion. Nodding in acknowledgement, I turned back ahead, squinting, as I focused far down the south of the valley trail awhile following the blip that continued to flicker as the target progressed further.

I glanced over my shoulder. "I'd advise you to cover your ears."

"What are you going to do?" asked Warrior

"You'll see." I replied, without altering my sight forward. "Now cup your ears. All of you."

"Okay. You guys heard him." said Warrior, telling the others to do as I instructed.

Briefly glancing over my shoulder to check if they heeded my order and seeing that they did, I turned back forward. Via neural impulse I gradually decreased the polar intensity of the magnetic latch on my back armor plate; I clasped the butt of the stock with one hand, angling the weapon and grabbing the barrel with my other hand whilst maneuvering around the girls that lay on my shoulders. I carried the anti-material rifle around in front of me, clasping the handle then pressing the butt of the stock in my shoulder and guiding my trigger finger through the guard; I briefly held the AMR in an upward angled position, narrowing my eyes as I visualized my target, and proceeding to lower myself into a crouch. Lowering the DAMR-62 into a ready position, I remotely deactivated the safety and switched on the scope via neural link; I peered through the scope which functioned more akin to a camera than a traditional one that used various regular glass-based lenses. I proceeded to direct my aim onto his torso, the crosshairs transitioning from a gray directly to a green as I intended for a lethal hit. As I was about to pull the trigger I observed as the bandit leader fled, entirely unaware of his imminent demise and I found it amusing; I squeezed the trigger and fired, an incredibly loud crack echoed through the forest as the 15.7mm x 160mm AP round left the chamber, whistling through the air at hypersonic velocities- visible paranoia and fear was painted on his face for a brief moment before in an instant red mist sprayed as most of the upper portion of his body blew apart expanding and popping like a meat ballon from the bullet's explosive impact. His horse continued to gallop in the direction originally intended with nothing but the blood and viscera staining its back as the bandit leader's corpse seemingly fell off and disappeared from view. I stayed there for a moment gazing around as the remainder of birds fluttered out of the trees- scared off from the residual echo that continued to resonate through the forest. In an inverse motion I latched the DAMR-62 unto my back armor plate, propping myself up from my kneeled posture. I unholstered my magnum, proceeding to feed a new magazine, pulling back the slider to chamber a round. I turned around seeing that the bunch were still huddled close together having just released their hands from their ears.

"Your eardrums still intact? Can you hear me fine? " I asked casually with a slight degree of humor. "Any ringing?"

_Truth be told. Considering that gunshot was well over 140 decibels, I had to assume that hurt their ears a bit. I was only 10 meters away._

They seemed okay as I saw them move again in response, most of the group still lying flat on their stomachs while Priestess was on her hands and kneesvery much aware. Warrior picked himself up slightly angling his head towards my direction.

"There's some ringing in my ears but yea." he replied. "How about you guys?"

"My hearing is okay." said Fighter. "Some ringing though as well but it's fading."

The Wizard girl said nothing using her staff to help herself to prop her up, Warrior and Fighter followed suit now picking themselves up, everyone patting away ground residue. They proceeded to lift the girls off the ground who were still unconscious and fortunately alive and breathing though, barely. Warrior walked over to Priestess and helped her up from her collapsed posture, her expression shadowed in distraught and contemplation.

"Are all the bandits...dead?" asked Wizard Girl, discomfort notable in her voice.

I nodded, then turned to the Priestess. "How is your neck? Any marks?"

"Oh-um...no I don't think so." she replied, rubbing her neck. "It's fine I don't feel any blood or inflammation."

"Good" I muttered dully. I turned then to Warrior who I noticed looking around at the corpses. "Thinking of checking through the bodies? Knowing their past exploits they might have some decent gear and coinage." _I suggested this as a mostly serious option but also found the dark humor in it from the irony of the situation. _

He widened his eyes slightly, chuckling, likely in discomfort. "Heh. I-I'm don't know, it just feels...wrong." he said, rubbing the back of his neck while looking around, notably uneasy but also contemplative. "Kinda ironic we'd wind up as the looters."

The others nodded sharing his sentiment while attempting to avert their attention from the mess of bodies. They were clearly unsettled and uneasy while trying to process the situation and it was evident they'd rather just vacate the site.

Understanding this, I simply nodded. "That's understandable. Let's continue onward then." I said, starting to move forward gesturing them to follow suit; I briefly glanced over my shoulder, turning ahead again once I saw them beginning to move, one after another. As we were furthering the distance between us and the site I began to wonder if rounding up the bandit's bodies into a pile and setting everything a light on fire was something I should have done, as a means of destroying any trace of this encounter. Seemed reasonable to consider the inevitability that travellers would pass through here and come across those corpses and whether it be taken positively or negatively might depend on numerous factors. Either it could provide peace of mind knowing these bandit's attacks were finally ceased or even invoke some to conclude this as result of a scuffle between another rival group which is a possibility I didn't neglect. Made me question whether or not these groups of bandits were part of a larger, more complex organization and then there's the matter of their base of operations, of which they didn't mention anything specific. That's something I would want to investigate in the future but on my own-I'd want these kids back to civilization, especially the girls we rescued back in the caves and I'd rather not waste any more time. Besides, I don't imagine setting a fire inside the forest would be such a wise idea and I'd say I've burned down enough in my time. That in mind there had been another question that slapped me in the back of my head- Why were those Bandits present in this world and why did they utilize such antiquated gear? Even the lowliest petty criminal possessed some form of modern tech and even small caliber handguns. Wasn't there such a thing as any form of Law Enforcement or Military present on this planet? It didn't ring quite right with me. I wanted to ask the teens but felt compelled not to and I wasn't sure why.

Leaving the valley and immersing into the thick of the forest, I began to feel an odd sensation creep in; I looked around trying to find what exactly was out of place, finding myself growing more puzzled as I couldn't discover anything immediately noteworthy. Initially, I chalked it up to my own paranoia, simply ignoring it for the time being, continuing along with my typical vigilant trudge.

Gradually, I fell into auto-pilot as I tuned into the sounds of nature; I wouldn't necessarily say I was comfortable though I did find something rather pleasant about the various ranges of sounds from the chirping of birds to the ruffle of trees being softly caressed by the gentle breeze and it was peaceful as well as serene-until it wasn't. Something about the atmosphere felt off and it was first apparent by those very same sounds of nature; I started to listen in much more carefully and as I did there was some key aspect that was distinctly strange-its tone. Any incoming noise had this bizarre slow, distorted and disjointed tonal range- everything from the tweets and chirps of flocking birds to the ruffle of foliage. My party's voices were also beginning to sound strange while I listened to their chatter.

Again, it was subtle and I needed to focus on it specifically to really notice. So I otherwise went along, thinking nothing much of it as we continued to progress through the last stretches of the forest before we'd eventually hit the treeline. Like I have been doing every now and again I referred to my UIT, briefly checking for any new signals that might have been picked up-of course there were none transmitted by either Genysis or my ship within the last several hours since I awoke in that cave. Despite my growing internal impatience and vexation I wasn't too surprised at this point.

Some short time later the motion tracker pinged, snapping me temporarily from my auto-pilot state as movement was detected. I narrowed my eyes to some tufts of brush to my 2 0'Clock; I proceeded to approach with caution despite no real cause for concern as the blips were designated a green color-code. Without approaching directly, I aimed my magnum in the direction of the detected movement, specifically training the reticle on brush several dozens of meters from our position. I maintained sight with the foliage along with its minute ruffles, quickly redirecting my aim to the unknown thing physically interacting with it; I planted my finger on the trigger, instinctively, ready to fire if necessary. Walking for some distance, I passed the brush getting a clear view of a deer, a single buck just grazing on vegetation for sustenance. That evidently wasn't anything to raise any alarm-though I did notice something off about the creature's hide. Adjusting my helmet's optics I zoomed in on the deer in question and immediately noticed the severe injuries it appeared to sustain with chunks of flesh seemingly missing from its body. Damn thing looked like it got mawed viciously by a pack of wolves, its coat and body crusted and saturated in both fresh as well as dried blood-and yet it just continued to eat without visual discomfort or inhibition. Confused by this, I inspected further discovering numerous lesions scattered around the creature's body, predominantly around the thorax region which appeared to ungulate like a living cancer. Squinting to focus my sight on it, the buck lifted its head and turned to face me, a few seconds of unsettling unbroken eye contact followed as the creature stared blankly at me. Suddenly, it fell into a violent twitching fit as its entire body deformed and underwent an explosive mutation into a nightmarish monstrosity; it let out a shrill roar as it charged like a crazed animal fueled by murderous intent. Before I pulled the trigger to fire my magnum, the multi-legged monster opened its massive maw, whipping its tendrils wildly around as it was about to strike until- inexplicably akin to a flip being switched its existence seemingly flickered and the creature disappeared without a trace. I closed my eyes and shook my head, contorting a face of utter bafflement when I saw the deer still there, calmly eating at the brush as it was before. The buck appeared normal without any visible harm or ailment; it was perfectly healthy and unperturbed.

_Was that just a hallucination? Son of a bitch. _I thought to myself, equally relieved and uneasy. _Not another encounter at least. _

That immediate moment later, the buck shot up its head upon becoming aware of our passing presence, staring blankly at us briefly before its instinct kicked in, quickly bolting away and disappearing further into the forest. I gazed thoughtfully into that direction, maintaining my aim as it went along until it galloped out of sight; I drew back my magnum, turning away and facing forward, no longer seeing reason to press attention to it. Proceeding onward, I grew more observant and cautious as I monitored my surroundings in every which way and from every point up and down. While I did feel my paranoia levels increase, I still attempted to maintain a cool, professional composure; I wasn't keen on elevating the group's already stressed and wary mindsets, as I myself wasn't exactly sure what was going on in my own head.

As we went on, it seemed my vision normalized as I hadn't yet noticed anything strange for the time being; I'd glance back now and again to the party behind me, noting their expressions and the manner they carried themselves. Physically speaking, they appeared okay aside from superficial injuries with parts of their clothing torn or stained in goblin blood; they moved along in a steady but strained gait, clearly fatigued from the previous encounters and the constant travel. This didn't pass me, I understood they were both exhausted and I assumed they hadn't eaten in sometime so they were likely starving as well; I knew it wouldn't be wise to stay put for too long-but I should try to find an alternate means of transporting this girls which at the rate we were moving it would be sunset by the time we'd eventually arrive. For the meantime, I'd take a little gander around to see if I could find any objects that might suffice- preferably something with a wide and flat surface area. Might be easier said than done.

I made a hand signal for the rest to stop. "Halt here." I ordered, glancing at the group behind me.

They listened to my order and ceased their movement. Their faces were mostly bland in expression with a subtle hint of inquiry and confusion. It was apparent they had little energy reserves left, barely enough to even emote evidently.

"Why are we stopping?" asked Warrior

"Hopefully to take a break." said Wizard Girl, tiredly. "Maybe"

Saying nothing initially I turned to the group and began walking towards them. I stopped less than a meter from them- kneeling down and grabbing hold of each girl while carefully sliding them off my shoulders. Gently laying each girl on the ground, I stood up and began to turn around, heading away from the group.

"Going to search around the forest." I answered. "Maybe find something I can use as a flat platform to transport these girls. I'll try not to take too long. In the meantime, sit tight and keep an eye on them. Scream if you need help. "

Without seeing their expressions or listening to their responses, I broke off and headed for another part of the forest. I decided to start my search towards the south; I would go out for a fair distance though I'd try not to stray too far from the party, maybe contain my searching within a 1000 meter radius. I'd stick to moving around in mostly linear paths, following something akin to a grid pattern in my movement method. My head was on a swivel as I took glances around the setting; I'd want to be quick as I searched while being brief and thorough in my methodology. As I went about scanning things in the forest, logging data on any objects that might be of use- there was something around somewhere in another part of the forest causing my attention to drift. I would make a note of it, occasionally looking in that direction as I went but as there wasn't any movement to trigger the motion sensor I'd see no reason to investigate. Walking for a short while then, I noted the marker I set on the group, seeing that I had covered close to 500 meters; I set another marker for a reference point, designating it a yellow to distinguish from the light blue used for the group's-I remained there in place, hearing that noise again; I narrowed my eyes, scanning through the trees to spot anything pop into view. Aside from the specks of the small birds flying about, it appeared to be devoid of anything noteworthy. No new movement was detected and the sound seemed to fade out for now.

A bit more mindful and observant, I continue on through the designated search zone sweeping my sight around and scanning for anything that might have a flat surface. I didn't have much luck as it were and I'd quickly start to yearn for my ship, it would obviously make transporting these kids easier (_though the idea of letting civilians see the interior was questionable.) _Of course that seemed like a distant dream at this point. From my initial southern heading, I had made a full hook around the group using them as a central point as I went eastward, gradually sweeping at a crawling pace towards the north. I glanced out to a distant part of the forest, again hearing that noise and as I listened in I noted- slow, intermittent crunching- albeit it was extremely faint and barely audible, however, I knew there was something else walking around in the forest. The vibration energy detected was notably greater than anything generated by a human or smaller- likely something larger in size and weight like a bear or moose. _Come to think of it, much of the wildlife I've encountered is eerily similar to Earth. It couldn't have been Earth, it didn't make any sense._ I shook my head, trying to get the thought of my mind.

Going onward, I glanced to one of the windows along the HUD noticing the new data being collected; I squinted my eyes, using a thought to enlarge the window to look at the information more closely. According to the data being collected by the MMC scanner, it would appear I was detecting some kind of object nearby and based on the detailed material composition it was likely to be of artificial origin, possibly man-made. Finding this rather surprising I bracketed and highlighted those specific elements for the MMC scanner to find while also utilizing the chime tone to help give me an idea of the general area of the object that might be composed of those elements. The following being- [_Silica/Sand(63% wt), Alumina/Clay(27% wt) Limestone(9% wt), Tin(1% wt)_] _Total weight: 1250kg_

Seeing that, I was almost certain of what I was picking up; I proceeded to head north some distance, listening as the chime increased in both frequency and sharpness until it rapidly reached its apex becoming incessant and intense. Stopping several meters from the target, the HUD displayed an icon, a series of small interlacing spirals that cycled around the object in question. Confused at first considering I was staring at what only appeared to be unbroken foliage I moved closer and began to pull myself through some deceptively thick brush for several more meters until I could see openings to the space ahead. Descending into a small depression, I followed along a narrow stream for a short distance; my sight fixed on a structure situated on the patch of land ahead. I approached the structure which appeared to be a small building, a type of shed- comprised of brick walls and a flat tin roof. Much of its surface was obscured by dense overgrowth indicating it had been built and resided for quite some time it would appear. Question is who would build a shed this deep into the forest? Also why? It was bizarre.

"Who would build a shed this far in the woods." I pondered. "Doesn't appear to be connected to any settlement or residence. Strange."

Proceeding to walk around the shed, I grabbed at and tore away the foliage that engulfed it so as to get a better look. Afterward I did a further scan, this time calculating the shed's measurements:

Height: 7ft(213.36cm)

Width: 13ft(396.24cm)

Length: 12ft(365.76cm)

Volume: 1092 square feet

Aside from a slightly visible weathering of the brick walls and some oxidation accumulating on portions of the tin roof, the shed otherwise appeared to be in fairly good condition with only minor structural degradation. With that then, it would seem what I was looking for, as in the tin roof, specifically speaking, had been found and was of an appropriate , I was legitimately curious on what might be contained inside the shed which considering its strange placement, it seemed enough to merit a quick gander. So I decided to detach the tin roof for the time being.

I moved back around to the front of the shed; I then stood at the wooden door and reached for the door knob while twisting it to only find it locked. Cocking my head in surprise and finding that odd, I wondered why that may be. Initially, I assumed it was the locking mechanism and strike panel being fused together from rust, though the iron of the components appeared relatively clear and doing an x-ray scan showed the locking mechanism appeared to function properly. This seemed to indicate that this was possibly done as a deliberate action, though the progression of overgrowth could suggest otherwise-unless this was done intentionally.

Without any particular provocation I turned around, scanning the area behind me out of habit. I didn't hear or see anything, of course.

"Wonder if this shed might be connected to those bandits?" I asked myself. "Probably not. Better make this quick."

Returning my attention back on the door, I looked down at the lock; I shrugged, gripping the knob applying sufficient force to rip the knob from the door- Metal creaked as the locking mechanism shattered and fell from its placement in the door which remained as a splintered hole. I was unsure of the possible identity of the original owner and there didn't appear to be a key present anywhere around, though I didn't feel the need to waste time dwelling on it any longer. Placing my hand on the door, creaking and crunching as I pushed forward; I entered the shed, closing the door behind me. On the inside there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary or particularly remarkable- mostly just a large assortment of various farming and gardening tools either sitting around the floor or hanging from the walls or atop ledges. I quickly noticed it starting to darken inside, as the only form of light that got through was that from the outside, and there were strangely no windows. Switching on the flashlight immediately illuminating the interior, I proceed again with my exploration. A dense cloud of dust particles lit up into view as they flurried in the air leaving a thick film on much of the surfaces inside the shed and most objects as well. I did a sweep of everything inside, thoroughly rummaging through and around most of the tools as well as any other objects I came across; a 40oz jar of peculiar greenish-yellow liquid was caught in my periphery. Walking over, I pushed away a large box of nails that obscured it; I grabbed it from the ledge from which it sat and briefly inspected it, proceeding to scan for its baseline chemical components.

Water [H2O- Dihydrogen monoxide= Hydrogen, Nitrogen]: 80%

Astrazine [C8H14CIN5= Carbon, Hydrogen, Chlorine, Nitrogen] : 5%

Dicamba [C8H6Cl203= Carbon, Hydrogen, Chlorine, Oxygen] : 3%

? [Unknown chemical compound= Carbon, Sulfur, Iodine] : 12%

Substance Identity- Water based Heterogeneous mixture containing various liquid and solid herbicides. Unknown chemical compound; dissolved state. Possible acidic properties.

"Huh. Water diluted herbicide mixture." I said, eyeing the visibly viscous liquid in ponder. "Wonder what that unknown substance could be. Hmph." I placed the jar back onto the ledge resuming further inspection.

Opposite of the door was a small workbench, the HUD which then immediately displayed another icon that cycled around it. Apparently, the sensors were picking something up within proximity of the workbench or directly inside a compartment somewhere. Narrowing my eyes, I walked over to the workbench and began to inspect everything on the main surface as well anything underneath the leg space and between the crevices on either of its frames. Expectedly I saw nothing particularly unusual or unconventional, mostly just some canisters filled with dirt and other gardening equipment-however, the mmc started to scan some of the tools laying on the workbench and found something rather interesting as well as disconcerting. I started to pick up some of the tools, specifically: a gardening trowel, pruners, gardening fork and a mallet. After scanning them, I skimmed through the data collected by the MMC scanner and found that not only were there traces of blood leftover but DNA from numerous individuals. To help me get a better perspective, I switched on my helmet's UV setting and proceeded to look over the tools in my hands and everything on the workbench as well as around it, following with a quick sweep everywhere else inside the shed's confines. Lo and behold there were numerous spots of blood splatter trailing here to the workbench. I laid the tools back on the surface of the workbench, seeing that my scanners were fixed on a specific spot on the frame; I directed my sight then to a section above the leg space and on the front edge of the workbench.

"There's something contained there?" I questioned, confused and slightly curious. "Maybe a hidden compartment."

At first there didn't appear to be any visual indication, as that portion of the workbench looked to have a solid connection or lacked any cut lines to indicate separation. Reaching toward it and clasping that part, I quickly noticed it felt loose and as I applied pressure, seeing it recede backward as I pushed in; I felt another looseness, pulling down that segment piece. Pulling it back, I opened up what appeared to be a hidden compartment with several items inside: a notebook, another jar and a key. Confounded, I squinted my eyes, picking up the notebook first and starting to run through it. As I read through it, I could already tell this was a memoir of some kind, a log of previous and current events and in this case-murder. From what I made out there were specific circumstances in which dozens of people were kidnapped then brutally killed, and these acts appeared to space over a few years with the most recent being just a few days ago. All of them involved usage of the various gardening tools leading to a slow process of inflicting severe blunt injury or mutilation, specifically, severance of the fingers and toes along with teeth and fingernails. The individual stated either to stalk and wait for unknowing passersby or track down specific people, though it appeared mostly to be the latter. From what I saw in the descriptions, it appeared that a majority of the victims were male and ranging from ages between 25 through 40 years old. However, there was no mention of the murderer's own identity with no hints of physical appearance or occupation-though that didn't exactly surprise me, anyway.

"Should probably keep this as a token of evidence." I said, looking at the notebook before reaching behind me, placing it inside a compartment attached to a lower portion of my back armor plate.

Seemed reasonable to assume that this guild the kiddos were talking about would undoubtedly want to look into this, which made me wonder something else- if this planet's police or law enforcement were on this case? Should have been obvious but something did feel off, as if I would have seen some kind of activity: Like a personal designated to patrol the site and close the area with yellow tape. Yet I saw none of that-granted this location was pretty well hidden and far from civilization. Regardless, with 24th century tech this area should have been discovered by now and then these fingerprints all over those tools as well notable amounts of blood traces. Didn't make sense.

That in mind, I picked up the other object inside- a jar which appeared to contain several dozens of fingers and toes, suspended in what looked to be some kind of embalming fluid composed of various salts and enzymes. As per the descriptions in the notebook as well as the physical proportions in thickness and length, it was apparent much of the extremities belonged to adult males of caucasian ethnicity. Apart from a slight grey discoloration, the embalming fluid was sufficient in preserving the fingers and toes with the combination of the water based salt/vinegar solution and other chemicals neutralizing bacteria that may degrade tissue. Fortunately, none of the appendages were of appropriate size to be severed from any minors or children, at least from what I could see that is. Undoubtedly abhorrent as this collection was, my question is why exactly they'd specifically remove the appendages? Nothing in the notebook mentioned any specific details. Might need to find more documents or any other files that contain relevant information. I debated whether or not to keep the jar, looking at it ponderously as I felt reluctant to make what should be a logical decision. In combination with the notebook, the jar would be an important token of evidence that would have relevance to the descriptions inside and of course they may be able to identify the victims from any intact DNA which was enough reason in of itself. I did consider the possibility that possession of a jar containing the fingers and toes of dead victims would be rather conspicuous and may draw unknowing incriminating minds. Regardless, I decided it'd be best to bring along as it would only bolster my case.

I placed the jar back on the workbench for now, setting my eyes on the remaining object inside the compartment. I grabbed the small iron key, staring at it quizzically.

"A key huh? Wonder what it might unlock in here?" I inquired.

Through my initial scan I didn't see anything in the data that indicated the schematic had shown any extra space and nothing about the shed's layout stuck out. With the key in hand I did another sweep and search of the interior layout, checking each nook and corner more thoroughly. Walking around for a short time, I started to quickly notice a difference in sound with my footsteps; I alternated between varying spots where I'd notice it. Slowly, I made heavy stomps all around where the mat covered and then onto where there was exposed concrete. While the mat dampened the sound my boots made I could still hear a faint crunch when concrete was impacted, however, on a spot nearest to the workbench I was able to discern an extremely subtle clank indicating I was hitting metal. Confident I was correct, I walked over to a spot where the mat hadn't covered; I knelt down and slid my fingers underneath the mat, tearing a portion of it from the adhesive which glued it place. With a firm grasp, I made one rapid shifting motion ripping the mat from the floor with a screeching crunch from the adhesive breaking apart. After tightly rolling aside the mat into itself, a small rectangular shaped iron hatch built into the floor is revealed. Narrowing my eyes in inquiry, I approached the hatch and crouched. I knocked on the hatch a couple times, a metal clanking followed as the iron surface and the titanium of my greaves contacted.

"This hatch was hidden beneath the mat, Huh?" I said, staring in ponder. "I have an unsettling feeling of what might be contained below."

I stood up, arched over slightly; I didn't yet proceed further, feeling uncharacteristically-reluctant and I wasn't sure why. Standing there in reflective contemplation, I couldn't help but sense something odd, not necessarily what I saw or heard, or really anything even tangible or comprehensible. I was by no means fearful or even anxious-just an indescribable uncertainty and eerie ambience.

Shaking my head, I suppressed the sensation and tried to ignore it. Inserting the key into the keyhole and turning it, the locking mechanism crunched with a subtle grittiness as its weathered components worked. With a soft click the tumbler pins release, the locking mechanism unlatching the bolts. Reaching down then, I clutched the hatch handle beginning to pull back and open; I immediately widened my eyes then gradually narrowed them in intense inspection. Down below in a dark, damp cellar were at least a couple dozen rotting corpses- all of them naked, bloodied and sustaining various degrees of mutilation.

"Hot damn. Knew something was off about this place." I commented, disgusted by the sight. "Fucking A" Admittedly, I was used to the sight and smell of death being used to the aftermath of battle but this-this was still undeniably heinous and fucked up. I guess it also helped that my helmet had a built-in respirator with a filtration unit. Otherwise, the putrid stench would be an assault on the nasal passages. Below, there appeared to be a visible lack of any flies swarming about and subsequently maggots eating away at any of the decayed flesh. Presumably because of limited exposure whilst inside the shed, and I had to also assume the bodies were thrown into the cellar upon exceeding their usage. Despite that, it was still a repulsive sight to behold- a gruesome mess of mutilated corpses of victims rendered beyond recognition.

I stared blankly down into the cellar for a moment, subconsciously attempting to find some kind of trait to help identification of which that seemed mostly futile. Standing up, I closed the hatch; I didn't insert the key into the locking mechanism, looking at it briefly before placing it inside the same compartment as the notebook. I reorganized all of the tools and other related objects back into the positions I originally found them in; I then grabbed hold of the jar, quickly finding a sack nearby in which I placed it.

Tying the burlap sack around my suit's belt, I walked back towards the door, grabbing hold of the mat, laying it back onto the ground covering the hatch. I looked behind me taking one final sweep of the layout to make sure everything around was returned to how it was originally. With that I placed my hand on the partially damaged door, clasping the hole where the knob used to be, pulling away the door and proceeded to exit the shed.

Outside again, I spent a quick moment to look around, seeing if anything in the environment had changed. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary- of course only 10 minutes or so had passed. I turned around back to the shed, specifically directing my sight to the tin roof; I reached out towards it, opening the palm of my hand letting magnetic energy flow. Via psionic emission I clutched my hand and carefully detached the roof from the shed, the metal clanking as it was separated from the brick foundation. With a hold then I proceeded to walk backwards toward the area I originally entered and as I would divert my attention behind me and between the shed itself, it was immediately apparent that my previous action may have been redundant. In hindsight reorganizing everything inside seemed a bit silly, considering the damaged door and the well-missing roof. Guess it didn't matter much now, as I had the evidence I needed.

I continued to walk backwards, transitioning into a sideways trudge up the slope, leaving the depression and pushing away foliage as I drew the tin roof closer towards me. Emerging back into more open space of the forest, I re-orientated the tin square as I turned myself around, beginning to walk forward again. As I went along I unholstered my magnum, training my aim between everything in front of me as well as my flanks, eyeing near and far whilst holding the tin square ahead of me. There wasn't anything noteworthy in immediate visual range nor did any movement trigger the motion sensor, however, I would maintain vigilance and even anticipated an encounter. I knew something was moving about in the confines of the forest, possibly prowling around for unsuspecting prey and I had to suspect it was likely a creature of large size and weight. It seemed safe to say encountering another human, aside from my own group would be highly unlikely-though my mind would linger on that anonymous killer. Scenarios began to play through my mind- I quickly suppressed those thoughts, trying not to think about such things. Going along, as my mind seemed to clear, I would occasionally see distinctive if so subtle distortions in different areas of the environment. Things close or far whether it be trees or plants would warp, creating a strange disorientating and cerebral haze.

I placed a hand on my helmet. "Not this crap again." I groaned, feeling a faint but intermittently painful strain in my head. Lifting my hand away, the pain started to quickly subside as the hallucinations also began to fade; it was for a brief few seconds a strange, unintelligible utterance, like a whisper followed. I contorted a confused face. "What the hell?" I cursed, attempting to comprehend what I just heard, of which there was nothing I could specifically discern- and yet so some degree of familiarity was found in it. Could it be?

My mind began to drift into an intense state of inquiry,the motion sensor ping snapping me back into alertness. Approaching within proximity of the group with their movement blips appearing on the motion sensor, I also noticed new movement had been detected and it looked to be heading towards the group's position. An IFF tag hadn't yet been designated, it being a yellow blip with an undisclosed threat level. Wasting no more time, I quickly double timed it, altering my path to directly intercept with whatever was making its way towards the party; I wasn't completely certain whether or not it was something hostile or friendly though instinct did give me a hunch. Barely a moment later, I heard several shocked gasps immediately followed by a loud, beefy bellow of a large familiar creature. Through the gaps between the trees, I soon got a visual of what was detected; as I suspected a huge bear had approached the group. The massive kodiak stood up on its hind legs, towering over the teens, intimidating them as it was prepared to attack and kill.

They huddled up, Warrior and Fighter stood their ground with Wizard Girl and Priestess on the ground looking over the unconscious girls. All of them appeared uneasy, but Warrior and Fighter bravely attempted to keep the bear at bay, both posturing themselves in combat stances trying to defend the others. It appeared to have some effect as the bear kept some distance, but continued to aggressively press the attack.

"Stay away! Don't come any closer you big angry ball of fur!" yelled Warrior in a commanding tone, aggressively swinging his sword around.

"Hey Wizard girl or Priestess do you by chance happen to have any spells left?" asked Fighter.

"Unfortunately, I used all of my miracles for today." replied Priestess, sheepishly and fearfully.

"No, most of my mana reserves are empty!" she shot back. "Any I do have left won't be enough to cast another spell, and I have no potions to replenish them!"

"Damn. Okay we'll hold our ground until Merc arrives!"

"Where is he?!" questioned the Wizard girl anxiously.

Warrior continued to make slashing motions to deter the Kodiak, proving to be futile as the bear would continue to claw away until it made one heavy swipe, knocking Warrior's sword from his hand with its massive paws. There's an audible clang as the sword falls to the ground, Warrior following suit as the bear narrowly misses hitting him after barely dodging and stumbling backward from his momentum.

"Oh crap." he uttered, grimly.

Watching as they braced themselves, as the bear drew closer, growling , preparing to strike; I released the tin square, dropping it onto the ground and approached from behind. Utilizing psionic emission I would remotely grab nearby rocks, launching them with enough energy and velocity to inflict severe pain on the bear. Each rock whistled through the air like a small cannonball traveling in excess of 100+ mph, each impact creating an audible crunch as various sized rocks hit the head or underbelly, drawing a notable amount of blood. In my periphery, the group caught sight of this with mesmerization expressed on their faces. After pelting it with half a dozen rocks, the kodiak finally decided to give up as it suffered enough bumps and bruises, whimpering and fleeing away until completely gone from view. From there I grabbed hold of the tin square via psionic emission and proceeded to head my way back towards the party. I could sense their confused gazes boring into me as I approached them, as I laid the tin square on the ground.

"What's that for, Merc?" asked Warrior.

The Wizard girl propped herself up, getting a closer look. "Appears to be a plain piece of metal."

"It's tin." I said, bluntly. "Ripped it from the top of a shed. It was originally the roof. Figured I'd use it as a platform to carry and transport these girls. Thought it might take a load off."

"Oh. So that's why you left." said Fighter.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"You mentioned something about a shed." said Warrior, quickly following up. "Did you find anything worthwhile inside?"

Wizard girl contorted a puzzled expression. "What weirdo would build a shed this deep in the forest?"

"Yeah. That is pretty bizarre." chimed Fighter.

They all looked at me expectantly, both puzzled and confused. I spent a moment thinking about what I wanted to say; I wanted to tell them and inform them about a possible killer on the loose but at the same time I wasn't exactly keen on scaring them or further complicating things. Then again I had to remember I only just recently brutally slaughtered a dozen men even if they were despicable bandits, these were still just kids. Might withhold that information for the time being, maybe until we arrived at our destination.

I stared at the group briefly before speaking. "Nothing overtly noteworthy. Mainly just abandoned gardening and lawn care tools."

"Huh. That's pretty underwhelming." said Warrior, unsurprised.

"Right." I said, nodding in acknowledgement. I turned from the group to the girls lying on the ground, who were all still unconscious. Priestess leaned over tending to them. "I see everyone is in one piece. That's good. It would seem I underestimated the chance of something like this occurring. Should have suspected it earlier."

"It's okay, um, incidents happen." said Priestess, reassuringly. Her puppy eyed expression radiated positivity and understanding. "So, um, were you going to put them on that piece of tin?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"I couldn't imagine that being very comfortable." The Wizard girl commented.

"It's not much but it'll do for now." I replied.

"Are you going to, um, do that thing you did earlier?" asked Warrior. "What was it called?"

I turned to Warrior addressing him. "Psionic Emission. And yes, that's the idea."

Diverting my attention from the others I went to each of the girls- minding their delicate, unconscious states, carefully lifting each one and placing them onto the tin square. One after another, I laid them in vertical rows from me, orienting their heads and feet in alternating patterns. I spaced them out as a means to distribute the overall weight evenly across the surface to minimize tip over. Also wanted to provide them some breathing room, and even if it was uncomfortable to lay on a hard surface such as that, it would at least keep them from bumping into each other as much. For the most part they were mostly unresponsive with only their faint, weak breathing and infrequent shifts in bodily movements visibly apparent. It wasn't anything totally reassuring but at least it showed they were clinging to life, if just barely. With them all on then, I made a grasping gesture proceeding to lift up the tin square on which the girls laid, the metal creaking as the magnetic stream whirred and connected.

"I must say Merc that is a clever use of your ability." remarked Wizard girl, sounding genuinely impressed. "Remotely manipulating the flat piece of tin and using it to carry them. It's rather efficient."

"It is pretty amazing." complimented Fighter. "Also the load off is nice."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "Are you already headed off again?"

Everyone in the party exchanged looks then turned back to me, nodding.

"Ready when you are." said Warrior, in a cheery tone.

Nodding, I carefully swung the tin square in front of me, proceeding to move ahead and lead the pack. Unhindered by having to support the girls weight, the rest of the party were more free to move on their own accord and we were able to travel at a more brisk pace. It wouldn't be very long until we neared the last stretch of ground inside the forest, the topographical map displayed in the motion sensor was picking up new information from my helmet's cameras showing the layout of the incoming treeline. Along the way as I scanned my surroundings, I narrowed my eyes as I'd see those strange distortions warp and flicker my vision ever so subtly. I'd mostly ignore it, focusing on what was ahead of me just continuing to move, trying to set my mind off of it. Soon the hallucinogenic effects gradually disappeared-though as we neared the treeline, there was a brief passing instance where I'd notice a faint, reverbative chuckle followed after with an utterance in the breeze. _Wispful one._ Widening my eyes in initial shock as if in revelation, quickly after I narrowed my eyes in annoyance and reverted back into a rational mindset. This wasn't real, just my mind playing tricks on me-or I liked to believe.

Finally leaving the forest confines we came out to a small piece of open land sparsely populated along the borders by large patches of bushes and other various types of brush. Up above, the clouds had almost fully parted away revealing a crisp, blue sky dominated by the luminous 3 O'clock Sun, its glow bathed us and the setting in bright light. Following the natural trail made up of the ever spanning brush, we eventually came to an elevated curvature in the landscape which provided wide open view of the rocky hills and the horizon beyond, under the glow of the afternoon sunlight it made for a rather picturesque sight to behold, the calm spring air accentuating it. Descending some distance down the gradual slope of terrain, we started passing through a wide-spanning field of dandelions in bloom, our movement along with the wind disturbed the white pappi of the pollinated flowers sending seeds through the air in a flurry. I'd glance over my shoulder slightly as I heard Warrior make sniffling sounds and inhalations before expectantly sneezing.

His face contorted, releasing the contents of his nose. "_Achoo!"_

"Bless you." said Priestess, customarily, in her soft voice.

"Heh. Thanks." replied Warrior, chuckling. "This fluff always makes me sneeze."

"That 'Fluff' is actually the seeds." stated Wizard Girl. "When the flowers are pollinated the pedals wilt and fall off, leaving the poppi underneath to be blown away and to seed then grow elsewhere."

"Huh. I see." replied Warrior, sounding mildly disinterested.

She huffed as though unamused and slightly annoyed by his dull response.

Not sure why but I found that somewhat humorous. Continuing on then, we left the dandelion field nearing some hillocks spread throughout the landscape with patches of various types of plants populating the areas in between. Off some distance I heard quacking, a family of ducks swam inside and lounged around a small lake along with a number of other creatures also roaming around nearby, either searching for food or simply passing by. A few minutes lapsed, the terrain gradually elevated as we approached the vicinity of the first mounds in the rocky hills; we mostly remained on a direct path upward until at a point it became too steep to negotiate properly. I would have us ascend parallel to the slope, using some of the closest moss covered boulders as markers to follow and navigate through while trying to keep the girls on the tin square from falling off. After a span of another few minutes, we passed over the last slope and started setting foot onto more level terrain proceeding onward through the knee high tall grass that carpeted the ground between the spanning hillocks and hills. A calm breeze would blow by every now and again, softly ruffling the grass back and forth; I'd eye the small critters that would occasionally scurry along the ground, usually a groundhog or two navigating through the high grass hastily to their burrowing hole. Going along I'd narrow my eyes as a strong sense of skepticism tugged at me.

"Hey. Look there's the shrubs ahead!" stated Warrior

"And beyond that are the farmlands and grass plains." said Fighter, directly afterward. "We're getting close. Maybe a half an hour's walk."

I broke my train of thought, and looked in the directions where the others were. Up from our position, I saw the large shrubland that had spread outward several hundred meters in multiple directions along the closest road. Further on, we continued to pass over the last stretches of the rocky hills as the land ahead gradually began to incline downward with the first batch of shrubs and brush emerging into view. I temporarily halted our movement, scoping the shrubland that spread out across the sloping land; up from the high-rising land we stood, the shrubland descended another couple hundred of meters and appeared to become rather steep halfway. Evidently heading straight downward clearly wasn't practical or convenient and at this elevation, undoubtedly, highly perilous and likely fatal if one were to tumble and fall. Personally, I wasn't concerned with my own well being as I have had plenty of training and experience with navigating terrain such as this so I didn't do much of it- also I have fallen and survived the impacts of plummets from much greater heights.

"Man, it's really far down from here." spoke Warrior, his tone noticeably apprehensive. "Hey! Remember when we used to come up to these hills during the winter and we'd always ride down them in our sleds?"

"Oh yeah!" replied Fighter, cheerily. "We'd round up all the local kids and have a racing tournament. So much fun!"

Warrior would chuckle gleefully. "Winner would get a dessert of their choosing from the baker's son! And a silver coin too!"

"Remember all those times you'd lose control of your sled?" said Fighter, asking Warrior in apparent humor. "You'd fall off and roll down the hill like a human rolling pin!" Fighter finished before breaking into a bout of laughter.

"Hey! It only happened like...twice." retorted Warrior, lightly defensive and embarrassed. "Don't embarrass me in front of, Merc!"

"Three times actually." replied Fighter, suppressing her laughter. "Also I doubt he cares; I don't think he's listening anyway."

My attention remained on the shrubland ahead and below, as I scanned around the area for a path we could follow. The brush wasn't particularly large with only a few batches over 1.5 meters tall and the vast majority fell underneath that, however, the population density of the shrubs were closely packed and dense with little to no gaps to walk through. Zooming in several times with my helmet's optics, I saw the portions of weeds that sprouted from the ground and threaded around much of the brush interconnecting everything into a thorny mesh. Sweeping from one side to another, I'd scan the shrubland looking for any gaps and calculating the amount of space via my internal computers trying to create a viable path.

"So, uh. Merc how do you wanna go about this?" asked Warrior.

"The hill slope into those shrubs is rather steep." noted Wizard girl, her sounding subtly demeaning as she pointed out the evident misstep. "We're really high up. You don't expect us to walk through those shrubs? They're rather dense and ridden with thorns."

I understood her point, and though I found a few possible paths we could take- it would prove to be too impractical to cut down brush while trying to maintain a secure footing. It didn't seem reasonable or even possible to safely pass through without risk of either the girls or the party getting injured or possibly falling to their deaths. However, I didn't exactly want to turn around.

"Do you want to turn back and go around?" asked Fighter. "Or did you have something else in mind?"

I glanced over my shoulder, nodding. "Yeah. But we're not turning back." I replied, beginning to carefully swing the tin square around towards the party and proceeding to lower it onto the ground. With an open palm gesture I disabled psionic emission and cut the magnetic connection from the tin square. I briefly stared at my UIT in contemplation, then turned to the group. "How are all of you with heights?"

Expectantly, they exchanged looks of inquiry and turned back to me with confused expressions. Warrior spoke up first.

"Not too bad I'd say." he says, somewhat boastful. "I mean as long as it isn't you know- crazy high."

I raised an eyebrow, sensing his claim dubious. I turned then to Fighter.

"I'm not bothered really." she replied, casually. "My father would have me scale and climb all kinds of things- rock walls, trees and wooden standing poles. Part of my training to improve overall strength, agility and dexterity." she then turned to Warrior, a small playful smirk creeping on her face.

"Hmph. I see." I said, dully. My attention alternated to Wizard Girl and Priestess- the former with her usual unamused disposition and the latter displaying typical sheepish demeanor.

"Not particularly." The Wizard girl answered, pushing up her glasses. "Why do you ask? Oh wait."

Priestess spoke up. "Um. Are you going to use your, um, psionic ability to, um,-transport us down?"

I nodded in confirmation. "Correct. You catch on quickly." I looked down to my hand, opening and closing it repeatedly, contemplating. "Truth be told, I've never used psionic emission on a living target without killing them, well, no human at least." I paused for a moment thinking about past occurances. "Anything over 100 P-Guass units is considered severely harmful and even deadly, though a little concentration and I should be able to keep it in an effective range."

The teens naturally shot me concerned expressions, reluctant and unsure of what to say. I didn't blame them. But it was better they knew ahead of time the possible consequences.

"Oh. Well then." said Warrior, hesitant.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing." I assured, trying to put everyone's mind at ease. "Now who's first?"

Each of the party members exchanged looks with one another, thinking amongst themselves. Eyes seemed to gravitate towards Warrior who widened his own in legitimate surprise. He scratched the back of his head and raised his hand, volunteering himself despite his apparent modicum of reluctance.

"Uh. Guess I'll go first." he said, chuckling nervously.

Nodding, I opened the palm of my hand and then made a clasping motion. Psionic emission warbled as psi-magnetism flowed, quickly generating a near transparent nebulous field around Warrior. He showed no visible signs of discomfort or pain, neither any physical harm but instead expressed innocent intrigue and curiosity.

"How do you feel?" I inquired.

"A tingling sensation, and also I like that I'm being weighed down." he explained. "But also not. It's weird. I can still move though."

"Interesting." I replied. "You ready?"

He nodded. "Go for it."

With that then, I raised my arm and proceeded to lift Warrior up from the ground and several meters into the air. He moved his limbs around as he tried to adjust himself as he transferred into his ascended state, and it didn't seem to take long as he quickly adjusted.

"Wow. You know what? This isn't that bad." he commented, seemingly starting to enjoy himself. "Wait a minute. . .I wonder." as says contemplatively, he starts to move his arms and legs around more, as well as shifting his body about. Almost immediately after, he manipulates his limbs as he begins to playfully twirl and spin himself around as though in freefall or zero gravity. "This is actually kind of fun! Hey! Guys, look at what I can do!" he says as he begins to do a series of cartwheel spins and flips.

"Woah. That does look kinda fun actually." admitted Fighter. "Uh you should probably dial it down or you might…"

Understanding her concern, I stepped forward a few paces towards the edge and raised Warrior a little higher into the air. He'd continue to amuse himself with his frequent spinning until inevitably becoming disoriented as the nerves in his head were overstimulated and the fluid in his ears were shaken and stirred. He eventually slowed his movements, his head wobbled back and forth in disorientation.

He held his head in visible discomfort. "Ah man I'm super dizzy. I think I went a little overboard I-I think I'm gonna…" as he is about to finish, he clutches his abdomen and starts to upchuck, however, he appeared to forget that he was floating in what was essentially artificial gravity as the contents of his stomach were carried back, slapping him into the face. "Ah man! So gross."

"What an idiot." said the Wizard girl, berating him.

"I hope he's okay." said Priestess, concerned Priestess.

I shook my head in disapproval. "He'll be fine."

"Ugh I think I'm good now." he assured, giving a thumbs up. From his slumped over posture, he opened his eyes and immediately recoiled back, likely remembering how high up into the air he was."Woah! Didn't realize how high up I was! Um... Merc can you put me down now?"

I chuckle a little. "Yea."

I shifted my arm around and extended my wrist forward, gradually making a downward motion towards the gravel road. Once I heard and saw him touch the ground, I opened the palm of my hand and released influence on him. Down below standing on the intersection, he looked up towards us and gave a thumbs up to confirm he was unharmed.

The rest of the group members sighed in relief

"So, who's next?" I asked

Fighter walked up and stood readily. "I will." she said

I nodded in confirmation, proceeding to make a clutching gesture as I grabbed hold of Fighter with psionic emission. As the psi-magnetism whirs and drones, enveloping around her in a form-fitting field, I lift her up from the ground and begin to carry her downward. She wasn't as reactive as Warrior or moved as much but still demonstrated a similar degree of amusement and intrigue, albeit of lower extent. A short moment later, I lowered her onto the gravel road plopping her directly next to Warrior who had sat himself down as he waited. With those two out of the way, I turned around to face the last remaining two waiting for who'd volunteer next.

The two females exchanged looks contemplating on who should go next. Wizard girl shook her head and sighed in minor exasperation. "Well, I guess I'll go. Take me down." she spoke with a slightly demanding tone. "Please be mindful of my torn attire, it's damaged enough as is." _her face then tinged a hint of red, presumably out of embarrassment. _

I twitched my eyebrow in brief confusion before nodding. "Right then, we'll deal with that later." I assured him. "Step forward and I'll transport you down."

She remained there for a moment, unresponsive. Widening her eyes, she snapped back from her state of deep thought. "Oh...right, of course."

As she stepped forward closer to me, I remotely clasp with psionic emission and proceed to lift her upward into the air. Like the other two, she responded with a combination of surprise and intrigue; she also displayed some degree of trepidation as well as an uneasy grimace. She looked to regain some composure and reverted to her typical blunt demeanor.

"Warrior was right, this is a strange sensation!" she stated. "As though I can move around freely but while being restricted simultaneously. That tingling feeling and being suspended in mid-air-it's surreal!"

Somewhat amused by her reaction, I continued to carry her over the shrubland gradually lowering her down towards the ground. Thus far it was going smoothly as I maintained a stable flow of 50 to 75 p-gauss units, despite my underlying uneasiness. _Brief passing thoughts of a gruesome incident would intermittently fade in and out on the fringe of my mind but I'd quickly try to block them and refrain from overthinking. _Plopping the Wizard girl back down onto solid earth, I temporarily eased my mind as I disconnected psionic emission from her. That was three down so far. I turned behind me, looking at the Priestess.

Taken aback, her eyes widened upon me. "Um….."

I raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Something wrong?" I asked, concerned.

She stepped back. "Um, I'm uh…" she whimpered, clenching her body and clutching her staff tightly. Reluctance and Unease were visible on her face and her body language. "I, uh-um, I have a fear of…"

"Let me hazard a guess, You're afraid of heights?" I questioned, bluntly.

Her face reddened slightly as she nodded lightly. "Y-yes." she replied, speaking softly and quietly seemingly embarrassed and ashamed. "Due to my sheltered lifestyle and training in the temple of the Earth mother I'm not accustomed to active physical travel over terrain like this, especially where there is a high elevation. My studies and training are almost entirely non-physical...I'm pathetic."

Momentarily, I stared at her without response, contemplating. I spoke bluntly and to the point. "Stop the pity party, if that were true then you wouldn't be here wouldn't you now?"

Her tears stopped, as her eyes widened and her mouth went agape. "Wh-what? I-I'm sorry." she yelped, apologizing sheepishly.

I shook my head. "Don't apologize. Just suck it up." I shot back, my tone calm yet commanding. "With the messed up shit you've seen, this shouldn't even cross your mind. If you're afraid of something, admit it and work on conquering your fear. You're a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for." As I finished, I spent a brief moment wondering if I came off a little too harsh.

Without a word, she stared at me puppy eyed. "Y-you, re-really think so?"

"Why don't you prove it to me?" I replied, coldly. I sighed. "How about this? Why don't I carry you down on my back and we work on your problem at a later date?"

She seemed somewhat confused, but nodded. "O-okay." she says, sniffling and rubbing away her tears. She then propped herself up a little more, a tad more composed.

So then, I diverted my attention to the tin square lying on the ground, on which the unconscious girls laid. I open my hand, establishing a connection to it with psionic emission; I make sure to be particularly careful as I manipulate them into movement. Shifting my arm upward, I narrow my vision as I watch it ascend looking for any movement and seeing if the p-magnetic field is keeping them secure in place. I slowly send it forward for a short time as I try to keep it as level as possible, only gradually lowering it as I get it closer to the gravel road. About twice as much time passes as I remotely carry them over; I lay the tin square atop some grass of the plain along the road close to the group. Disconnecting psionic emission, I pull back my arm and then glance over my shoulder to the Priestess behind me. I cock my head to signal her to approach me.

"Coming." she says in her mousey voice, hastily scurrying towards me.

As she approaches, I lower into a crouch so as to make it easier for her to climb up considering I was tad over 2m I had nearly a couple feet on her. Sensing her added, albeit, minute weight; I then watched as her small arms wrap around my neck, or, as much as she could get around in the space between my helmet and neck guard. As I prop up, I clasp both my hands just above the kneecaps as I wrap her legs around my waist.

"Keep holding tight around my neck." I said, glancing at her. "I got your legs."

"Uh-huh. I'm holding as tight as I can." she answered

I walked towards the edge of the cliff face. "Ready?"

She didn't give a verbal reply instead gave a nervous whimper and proceeded to hug even tighter around my neck. Evidently, she was frozen in apprehension, bracing herself for what was to come and holding on for dear life.

"I'll take that as a yes." I said, speaking semi-humorously.

I did a quick scan of the landscape below, mapping out a path to follow from my elevated position, spending a few seconds eyeing out and tagging suitable spots. Once ready, I stepped backward a few paces and focused ahead; I bolted from place and launched from the cliff edge causing Priestess to let out a terrified, muffled scream. Whilst airborne for those few seconds I shifted my upper body forward while bending my legs inward; I tried to center my gravity as I fell, as so to maintain easier control of immediate movements. Some point during freefall I would start to move my legs into a running motion, increasing speed and frequency as I drew closer to the earth. Moments before I'd make contact with the cliff slope I activated the magnetic emitter fitted on the UNIT, letting a residual flow of p-magnetism release and create a nebulous field around us.

"A-Are we still in mid-air? What's that sound?!" asked the Priestess, still very noticeably afraid.

"Yes. But in a moment we won't be." I answered, my focus affixed below. "Also that's psionic emission whirring. I'm using it to slow our descent."

She didn't respond verbally and only replied with an anxious whimper.

I chuckled lightly

Mere meters above I felt a sense of weightlessness as psionic emission manipulated the air around me, enough so to create a cradle that dramatically lowered our plummet speed and momentum. Upon contact with the exposed rock there was an audible crunch as my boots impacted, the force of my weight and residual momentum cracked and blew apart portions of the cliff face slope sending fragments backward. My slowed descent allowed me to properly land and continue my movement downward; I was able to cover the remaining part of the cliff face incline quickly, now rapidly covering ground through the shrubland. Wind howled as I ran at speeds in excess of 150km/h, it was mostly a straight shot downward, occasionally weaving and spiraling in conformity to the uneven terrain, as I tore through the dense brush and kicked up large visible trails of dirt behind me. As I started to cross over more level land, my momentum decreased slightly and thus so would my overall speed. Nearing the last few dozen meters of stretch of land, up ahead there was another dip in the terrain before it would bank upward to the thick brush that bordered the shrubland edge and the gravel road. I deliberately began to increase my running speed as I neared the incline; I accelerated into a mad sprint and bolted forward as I descended into the gap. Upward the bank like ramp, I accelerated up into the air and over the dense brush; I noticed the rest of the awaiting party turn and face our direction while still airborne. Making landfall I leaned forward and crouched, spreading apart my feet as I started to slide across the gravel. Rocks beneath me crunched as they rustled around underneath my skimming boots, the teens would become alert and take several paces backward as I approached. I'd slow and stop just a few feet from them.

"H-have we s-stopped? Are we b-back on flat ground?" asked Priestess, shakily.

I glanced over my shoulder. "Yea. We're on the gravel road."

As I lowered my stance, Priestess quickly climbed off and immediately fell onto her rear. It was fairly evident she enjoyed that about as much as I expected she would- which wasn't at all. She got off of me real quick. Poor thing was likely terrified-we literally just ran off a 500 foot cliff.

"Oh, thank the Earth Mother!" she yelped.

Turning around to face her, I reached a hand towards her to grab; she in turn clasped it, using her staff to aid propping herself up from the ground.

"You good?" I asked, initially concerned. A bit of humor crept up. "Ton of fun that was. Wasn't it?"

"I'm okay, I think." she says, patting herself free of debris. She then looked up to me, her eyes widened in shock from the nonchalant tone of my statement. "Fun? That was terrifying! My heart is still racing." she expressed in a slightly raised tone, her body noticeably shaken. "Well, at least we're alive."

For a moment I stared at her, feeling a sense of guilt tugging at the fringe of my mind. As she seemed to recompose herself, I decided to not say anything; I directed my attention then to the tin square, beginning to walk my way over to it.

"Yea no kidding! That was insane!" Warrior commented, his tone more commending then berative. "You're one crazy dude, Merc!"

"Didn't think you'd actually resort to that." remarked Fighter, surprised. "But seeing how fast you ran down, it was almost impossible to keep track of you! You were like a human blur!"

"Considering this is Merc, I'm not at all surprised." said Wizard girl, monotone. "Anyway. Priestess, why didn't you decide to be transported down like the rest of us?"

She stood there, wordless. "I-uh….." as she started to speak, I interjected.

"Just after I transported the Wizard girl, I ran into a slight malfunction." I started to explain, lying. "The module fitted on my UIT was having a bit of a misfire- coil emitters were improperly regulating p-magnetism flow. Didn't want to attempt transporting her while undergoing technical issues. I ran a few diagnostics, and it seems everything is operating as it should be. Might have been a software issue. All good now." I finished, turning to the Priestess.

Turning to me, she immediately took the hint. "Uh-um….Yeah, it did seem rather troublesome." she says, timidly.

The rest of the group exchanged thoughtful expressions before shrugging indifferently. As everyone conversed over unrelated topics, Priestess just stared into space in anxious contemplation. Of what she was thinking I wasn't certain but I'd just remain silent and let her thoughts marinate.

I lifted the tin square off of the grass with psionic emission, steering it forward and as I started to head down the North of the gravel road I signaled the others to follow. As we began travelling down the gravel road, it would be apparent we'd spend a little while longer making our way there with nothing but unbroken grass plains bordering our flanks; I recalled Warrior mentioning something about farmland being somewhere up ahead. Along the way I'd look up at the sky every now and again, as I'd watch for my ship to appear out from the horizon; I'd frequent my sight to the HUD, specifically, in the designated corner where the icon representing a transmission signal would appear- of which, as I expected was absent. My mind started to drift as I'd ponder over previous events, particularly those prior to the last few hours that had lapsed since my awakening on this planet. I wondered what Genisys was exactly doing in my absence; I knew he'd dispatch search teams to investigate my last known location and expand from there and that much was for sure. I'd expect he'd warp to the next planet and start up operations- that planet being AB1101-P3A2, one of a global-spanning jungle spotted with large seas. The op was a series of missions that were centered around investigating the strange, evidently disastrous incidents that occurred near and within the main facility and its surrounding encampments, as per the documents we collected from a previous snowball world occupied by WarCorp. Something in the intel detailed some sort of biological research, specifically centered around epidemiological and genetic based studies. Of that which I found most concerning was the disappearance of the recently deceased scientists- that of many things would irk me, now that I'd be unable to discover firsthand.

Slowly leaving my deep ponder, I'd see we'd soon pass into established farmland with crops sprouting abundantly from the soil and in between on the less occupied grass plains livestock, particularly cows would graze and there spread about were hay bales here and there. Off afar would be the settlements that would reside, the farmhouses and barns visibly distant with no current activity from the owners or workers. About 30 or so minutes had passed, and thus far little to no activity from any of the nearby residents or travelling passersby. To tell the truth, I actually kind of enjoyed it, the silence with only the occasional breeze and pleasant weather it was all so-nice. After roughly another 10 minutes however this would change. Up ahead a hundred meters something travelled on the gravel road, and from how it appeared it wasn't a conventional vehicle. Squinting my eyes, I magnified my helmet's optics seeing what looked to be a wooden carriage; I could also begin to make out the clip-clopping of hooves hitting the ground, presumably that of horses trotting. Confused by the antiqual form of transportation, I had us follow after it, gradually inching closer towards it which was rather easy due to its modest travel speed. As we followed, I'd look around and grow more puzzled as I'd continue to notice the severe lack of modern farming equipment and vehicles- no tractors, balers, combine harvesters or anything else of the like used for agricultural purposes. I wouldn't see any activity from any planes or drones that would fly around spreading seeds or pesticide, though maybe that was due to the progress that had already been made. But something told me that wasn't likely the case either. _Come to think of it I wasn't picking up any signals being transmitted from any personal routers or public broadband towers. I Hadn't seen any kind of comms network tower or satellite dish, and I acknowledged this is a rural area with a sparsely scattered population density but even still I'd have seen something. That might explain why I wasn't seeing any new net codes or network IDs for the servers or channels I would have likely scanned and monitored in the system by now. Was there actually no form of communications network? _Irksome thing to consider.

Several minutes lapse as we continued to follow the carriage, getting a little closer with every few dozen meters we walked. My sight was fixated on it, specifically, on the back entrance which was mostly obscured by the curtains. I didn't have a clear view of the cabin interior or the passengers occupying inside; I internally debated then whether or not to move ahead and flag the driver down to cease their movement. Of course, I considered the possibility that the passengers could just simply peep out as I wasn't exactly making myself hard to see.

"Where do you think that carriage is heading?" asked Warrior

"Dunno. Probably Frontier town." replied Fighter.

"Huh. Wonder who's inside." he said

"Likely no one worth knowing." answered, Wizard girl. "Typical traveller probably."

I glanced at them, noting their thoughts; I wasn't particularly concerned or interested in the individuals identities or destination, however, I did wonder whether or not they were of some reputable social status. As I thought about that, I narrowed my eyes as I'd notice the bonnet's back curtain would shift aside as though someone inside the cabin was taking a peek outside. I suspected the passengers within were beginning to catch on to the idea they were being followed-or maybe they were just taking a simple gander. Whatever the case they were aware now.

"Wait. It looks like the carriage is slowing down." stated Warrior. "I think they're going to stop."

Looking back at him, I turned around and narrowed my eyes as I watched it. Indeed it was, it's modest speed started to decline; it went for another few dozen meters until there was a faint, audible crack as presumably the coachman instructed the horses to stop. A few moments later it would come to a complete halt, the horses neighed in the distance.

"Halt your movement." I ordered, giving a quick nod to the group. Once they followed my command, I turned behind us and walked over to the grass running along the gravel road. I lowered the girls on some of the grass between one of the long-spanning stone walls and the gravel road, some 15 meters away. "Watch over them. I'll see these individuals, maybe get a background check." I say as I pass them by.

"Okay Merc. We'll wait." replied Warrior.

Making my way there, I took a brief glance at my magnum before proceeding to holster it; I swapped it out for my ASIS ARM-11, unlatching the assault rifle from my back armor plate. I would not draw it forward though I'd clutch it in a preparatory fashion, enough to assume it would be a sufficient deterrent. As I approached in a brisk, steady pace I'd maintain a firm, professional presence whilst not trying to appear too threatening. I watched as the coachmen would appear from the front of the carriage, walking his way around towards the back; he'd unlatch a compartment that extended a small set of steps and then proceed to push apart the curtains to the back entrance bay. One by one, he'd hold each of their hands as he helped walk them down, each lifting the brim of their robes as they did so. Immediately, I contorted a puzzled expression when I saw their antiquated attire as I carefully monitored their movement patterns. Once all of the occupants stepped outside, I counted 5 individuals- a man, the coachman and 4 women, one young and the other three middle-aged or older. Expectantly, all of them including the coachman immediately gasped, contorting looks of shock clearly taken aback by my appearance and weaponry. Recoiling and stepping back as I approached them, I walked a few more paces until there was half a dozen meters between us. I stood there for a moment inspecting their outfits which stook out to me. The coachmen wore a rather bland and basic outfit consisting of a white tunic and a lightly decorated vest with brown trousers and modest quality leather tie-up boots. However, it's what the women wore that mostly caught my eye. All of them were clothed in some type of religious garb- two donned black robes typical of a nun(one of them was the young woman) and the others something akin to Priestess' attire. I wondered if she had any association with whatever sect this group belonged to. She did mention something about her being a member of a Temple of the Earth Mother. So clearly not one of the Abrahamic religions, maybe?

"Calm your senses, I mean you no harm." I stated, my voice was cool but firm. "State your identities if you would." I narrowed my eyes as they quietly conversed, feeling a subconscious sense of annoyance.

Finishing their exchange, the woman appearing to be the oldest spoke.

"I and my sisters are followers of The Earth Mother." she said, sounding reserved and composed with an underlying uneasiness. "My assistant and I are Priestesses ordained by the High Priestess to uphold the ideals and practices of the temple and serve the Earth Mother. My other sisters have volunteered to live the celibate lifestyle of a nun."

"I see." I replied, dully. "And do you mind if I ask where you were heading?"

The eldest woman stared at me, contemplating. "To Frontier Town." she answered, now sounding more concerned. "Why would you like to know? Who are you sir?"

"My identity isn't important." I replied, diversely. "It would seem you would eventually find me trailing behind you. I simply decided to engage you and see for myself who I was dealing with."

She conversed again with her fellow members before turning back to me.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking." she says inquiring. "Do you happen to be a soldier or knight? Are you from the Capital? I have never seen someone don armor such as yours. It's...unusually sophisticated."

I raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Capital? I'm not familiar with such a place and I'm no longer a soldier, well, not a traditional one." I said. "I'm more akin to a military contractor….a Mercenary so to speak." I will explain further. "As for my combat suit, that's classified."

"Classified?" she says confused. "What does that mean?"

I shook my head in annoyance. "Delicate information for confidential ears."

"I see." she replied, pondering. "Now I ask. Where was it you were heading?" she says as she tilts her head as though to look past me. "I see a group of youngins down the road. Are they with you by chance?"

I glanced behind me, then nodded. "For the meantime. I picked them up while they were in the midst of a quest."

"Oh I see. What kind of quest?" she asked, curious. She then narrowed her eyes for some unknown reason, almost in concentration. For a brief moment her and fellow followers shared similar expressions as they conversed. Almost like they recognized one of the teens, and then it clicked.

One of the nuns, specifically the elder woman gasped. "Is that who I think it is?" she says, widening her eyes and pointing her finger.

Confused initially, I soon started to hear the shifting of gravel as though someone was hastily moving over it. Before I'd turn around I'd hear Priestess' voice. I had a feeling she may have had ties with this religious group.

"Fellow members of the Earth Mother?" she asks as she stops and stands beside me. "Hi" she greets, in a gleeful manner and tone.

"Hello" said each of the clerical women. Priestess tucked her staff in her left arm as she ran up to the elder priestess and immediately hugged her causing her to recoil back slightly from the momentum.

She let out a small surprised oof. "I didn't expect to cross paths" she asked with a smile. "How have you been, my child?"

"Oh-uh….fine I'd say." she said, lowering her tone.

The elder priestess raised an eyebrow, concerned. "Your tone, I sense unease. Is there something that is the matter?" her voice gentle but firm, almost motherly.

Priestess paused for a moment, then shook her head. "No no, it's uh-I'm fine. Really." she says as she breaks away from the elder priestess.

Momentarily she was silent, as though in contemplation. "This dark-armored gentleman here says he accompanied you on a quest." she says speaking to the Priestess before turning to me. Her expression was like a combination of inquiry and a non-accusatory interrogation. "Is this true?"

The adolescent priestess nodded. "Yes, well, not initially." she stated. "He wasn't with us at the beginning. We um-crossed paths later on."

"It's complicated." I mentioned.

"I see." she replied, intaking the information. "What type of quest did you embark on if I may ask?" as she asks that, she notices the stains on Priestess' garb. She widens her eyes and gasps. "Little priestess your garb! It's spotted with red stains. Is that dried blood!."

All of the women including the coachmen shot me questioning looks, appearing to develop upset expressions. "Sir, do you mind explaining why this young priestess has blood stained on her attire." interrogated the elder priest, scowling. "What of the other young adventurers?"

I stood there looking at them, mildly annoyed but not quite angered. Priestess widened her eyes, turning from me to the clerical group of women.

"He's innocent! As a matter of fact, if it weren't for him." she says frantically, speaking in my defense. "My party would have…."

Before she finished, I interjected. "Truthfully, my initial intention was not to take part in their quest." I said, starting to explain myself. "I actually had another mission prior to our incursion. For unimportant reasons aside, I was already 'exploring' the cavern in which they set for. Something called the Adventurer's guild had a quest they accepted, in which detailed extermination of humanoid creatures known as goblins."

"Goblins?!" gasped the collective of the clerical women and the coachman, shocked. "Foul and filthy creatures those are!" said the elder priestess, in apparent disgust.

Priestess nodded. "Before we met, our party took the quest and made our way to some distant cave." she said. "Despite knowledge of their vile nature, we-our party thought it would have been an easy quest to complete." she paused, a grim expression developed on her face. "We were clearly wrong, we were woefully unprepared and caught by surprise. They ambushed us and we nearly died…." she pauses briefly, clutching her staff tightly. "But Merc saved us-my party and those girls that were kidnapped by the goblins."

They all let out shocked gasps. "Oh you poor things." said the older nun. Their collective expressions turned from question and anger to that of apologetic understanding. "Our deepest apologies." she said.

"Don't dwell on it." I replied, dully. "I decided to put aside my initial plans, and escorted them through and from those caves. The other girls we saved are alive but barely; they're currently unconscious. They're undoubtedly malnourished and with their condition they may expire if not given proper care."

"Where are the girls?" the elder priestess asked.

I briefly glanced behind, pointing toward them. "About 20 meters down along the gravel road. Laying on the grass, atop a flat square piece of tin." I said. "The rest of the party is watching over them."

"How many are there?" she asked.

"Four" I say, still looking down the road at the girls. I glance at my hand and UIT, debating whether or not to use psionic emission to bring them forth. I felt reluctant to do so; I wanted to limit exposure of my tech and abilities to too many people. I decided against it. "Unfortunately, I lack the proper medical supplies currently and due to the nature of my-occupation. I would be unable to provide them with adequate attention." I explained, turning back to them.

"Do you ask if we would take up the task?" questioned the elder priestess.

I didn't nod or give a direct confirmation. "Anyone with the proper supplies and qualifications that may be able if you know any." I stated.

The clerical group exchanged looks, seemingly unsure and reluctant. But they ultimately agree to do so, nodding.

I nodded in return. "Appreciation. I'll go fetch them quickly." I said, thankfully. I turned face and started heading down the gravel trail.

"I'll help you." says Priestess, following behind me.

_During that very brief walk I contemplated over my decision, wondering if it was short-sighted. They clearly weren't doctors or medical professionals; I wanted to wait until we were in the town and find a hospital somewhere. Time, of course, wasn't a thing I didn't want to continue squandering. Even considering if I find their religious background disagreeable, it would seem if they had similar abilities to Priestess' and if they possessed and could create these supposed health potions then maybe they might be a decent option. And from what I took when Priestess described this "Temple of the Earth mother", they were likely to be well known and have connections. I hoped._

The rest of the party patiently waited as we approached, they huddled around the girls, conversing amongst themselves. Warrior sat in the grass, while Fighter and Wizard girl remained standing, their conversation related to the priestesses and the unconscious girls. Each of them turned towards us, with expectant looks on their faces. Warrior spoke, still sitting with his legs sprawled leisurely.

"Are you guys done talking with them?" he asked. "They look familiar."

I nodded lightly. "Yea. Some religious folk."

"They were fellow followers of The Earth Mother." Priestess added. "They were also heading for Frontier Town like us."

"What did you speak to them about?" asked Wizard Girl.

Momentarily unresponsive, I headed past them directly to the tin square; I crouched over and carefully grabbed hold of one of the girls, lightly pressing my shoulder into them until I had good hold, hoisted her up.

"Let's get them up." I ordered, motioning with my ARM-11 for the others to follow suit. "I asked them who they were and where they were heading." I say turning to the Wizard girl, informing her. "Among some other questions, and I provided a few answers of my own. And let them know about these girls we rescued."

"Ah, of course." she returned, understanding.

"They agreed to look after them?" inquired Fighter.

I glanced over my shoulder, lightly nodding. "Yes. We clearly lack the adequate supplies to treat them ourselves." I explained. "And considering the nature of my 'occupation', it would be impractical and detrimental to continue looking over them, unfortunately. Guess I saw this as an opportunity, and figured I'd jump on it. Hopefully, I made a good choice."

"No need for concern." stated Priestess, with a reassuring tone. "Many of the Earth mother's temples and shrines house many followers who study and practice health and injury rejuvenation based alchemy."

"Yea." I replied. My eyes briefly glanced towards her, narrowing slightly. "Alchemy? Don't you-nevermind." I stopped my sentence, my need to correct her waned. "Forget it."

One after another they lifted each girl from the tin square, carefully standing each of them upright. With them in hand, we headed back up the gravel road. As we draw nearer to the carriage, the clerical women as well as the coachman start to walk their way towards us.

I stepped aside and briefly halted, letting the others pass me by as they are assisted with moving the unconscious girls into the carriage, the one I carried still on my shoulder.

"Oh my, these poor young things." softly spoke the Elder Priestess, her tone pained and empathetic. "Those conditions they were put through must have been truly horrible."

"They feel and look like cadavers." commented the other, younger priestess, her tone and face similarly abhorred. "Their bodies are barely lukewarm. Skin pale white and ridden with filth and grime, and bruises."

"Shouldn't be surprising." I said, monotone and blunt. "Those lasses had to have been held captive there for at least 3 or 4 days. Severely fatigued and malnourished, among other ailments."

"By the Earth mother." muttered the Elder Priestess, shocked.

My attention and that of the Elder priestess was drawn towards the carriage.

"Most of the girls have been loaded in! Just one more!" called out the Coachman, gesturing to us.

Nodding, I reached behind me and briefly latched my ARM-11 unto my backplate. Carefully moving the girl off my shoulder, I re-orientated her so she was cradled in my arms, proceeding to make my way to the carriage.

"Need help moving her inside?" asked the Coachmen, in a calm and friendly tone.

I shook my head. "It's fine, I've got anyway." I replied, declining politely. "She weighs nothing to me, anyway."

The unfurled steps creaked as I walked up them, almost like they were close to collapsing underneath my weight. Slightly worried I might break them, I managed to fully ascend, leaning and crouching as I fit my large and bulky frame inside. Heading to the far back, passing some crates of what assumed were textiles or food, I came to the spot they designated as a resting area of which the girls were laid similar to how orientated them on the tin square. Finding an open spot on the right side of the cabin, I knelt down and carefully lowered the red-headed girl onto the floor. Right as I was about to turn and leave, I heard her utter something through her quiet and weak breathing, grabbing my right arm.

"Th-thank you." she uttered in a weak, raspy voice before coughing and losing consciousness again.

Widening my eyes slightly, I reached my hand forward and placed two fingers on her neck. Fortunately, I still felt a pulse albeit a very faint and intermittent one, her other vital's statuses were concerning but entirely determinate. I turned around and made my way out of the cabin.

"If you don't mind me asking. In what matter did you transport these females?" asked one of the nuns, the older one specifically.

"We carried them. Unfortunately, I lacked any previous form of transportation or vehicle." I answered. "I eventually found an improvised means but that's important." I exited the carriage and stood upright again.

"I assume that's all of them?" questioned the Coachman.

I gave a light nod. "After doing a full sweep of the cave system, they were only present in one. Just these four."

"Understood." he replied, nodding. As he gestured to the others to board the carriage, the Elder Priestess motioned him to halt. He and others complied.

"You mentioned you were heading for Frontier town, correct?" she asked. "Would you like a ride there? We are more than happy to cover the fee."

"I'll waiver any charge given this circumstance." said the coachman, in a gesture of courtesy.

I raised my hand and shook my head. "No need. I'm fine walking on my own." I said, calmly declining. I glanced behind me. "You guys should go with them. It'll be faster and should be safe from here."

After exchanging brief looks to one another, the teens shot me expressions of refusal. Warrior shook his head and spoke.

"We'd prefer to stick with you, Merc."

"Yea! We'd feel more comfortable if you were with us." chimed Fighter.

Wizard girl pushed up her glasses. "Besides, they might not believe us." she claims. "Considering the state of our attire and our injuries there's a chance they may think we ran off. With someone like you to vouch for us, they'll be guaranteed to believe we were successful on our quest."

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"It'd be wrong if we got all the credit," said Warrior, starting to rub the back of his head. "Feel really guilty if we took your cut."

I looked at him, narrowing my eyes slightly as I contemplated. Of course money was no concern of mine, whether my actions merited it or not. Truthfully though, they weren't wrong in their concerns as legitimacy in their quests completion might be compromised due to their lackluster equipment and their scuffled conditions. Also didn't help their case considering they were rookies with little to no experience with these types of tasks. Regardless, I needed to get back on my original task-plus these kids had no business in being the company of a shady merc with too many enemies to properly count.

"Listen…." I said before the Wizard girl cut me, much to my annoyance.

"Apologies for my interruption." shes says her tone monotonous, if not slightly apologetic. "Can you at least escort us the rest of the way there. Once we're at the guild, help confirm the validity and success of our quest. We'll give you your cut of the reward and then we can part ways. How does that sound?" she finishes pushing up her glasses once more.

"Please." implored Priestess in her quiet, mousy tone. With puppy eyes she stared at me, clutching her staff tightly.

Underneath my helmet, my face contorted into a cringe, somewhat conflicted. Those damn puppy eyes of hers,and the cutesy innocence.

Normally, I could say no but ultimately relented. I shook my head and sighed. "Alright. But only until everything is set and done."

Everyone, except for the priestess, chuckled and cheered. Priestess widened her eyes slightly in surprise before repressing into her reserved demeanor, breaking a light smile.

"Then it's settled. We'll be on our way then." said the Coachman, ready to leave.

The elder priestess motioned to him. "Not yet."

"Of course, my apologies. Ma'am." he says, continuing to wait.

I raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Normally my stance on mercenaries is less than...ideal." she says, her expression stern and her tone hinted some degree of conscendesion, or it seemed so. Initially sounding somewhat doubtful and holding some kind of prejudice, she quickly softened her tone and posture. "But you did a truly kind thing, saving those girls and dispatching those vile creatures. Most would have declined and looked elsewhere, simply due to the modest payment and the goblins lowly nature."

"Truthfully, it wasn't my original objective." I said, raising my hand slightly, not needing the speech.

She chuckled. "Regardless, I thank you. And so will these girls when they recover. I will let them know of you." she says with a friendly tone, smiling. "You're a good man."

My face contorted into a humored expression, almost wanting to laugh. I appreciated her flattery but it wasn't exactly true. I'm a lot of things, mostly bad and sometimes morally questionable. But "good" wasn't one of my key traits, well, not from a moral standpoint. I'm a cold and ruthless killer and there was no denying that.

"Just be sure that those glasses receive the proper attention and treatment." I said, monotone. "Preferably from trained medical professionals."

She nodded. "Worry not these girls we will be taken care off." she assured, then turning her attention to, Priestess. "It is good to see you again little miss Priestess. I hope you visit the temple again soon, as your studies are far from over and you still have many incantations to learn."

"I will!" she replied, her tone and expression more visibly giddy.

"Farewell to all of you and safe travels." says the Elder priestess as she and her companions enter the carriage.

Once the coachman helps them aboard, he walks around the carriage out of view and climbs back up unto the seat box. With a click he took control of the reins and the clip-clopping of horses started, the clerical women waved in open view as they were on the move. The teens returned the gesture, waving to them. Several minutes lapsed as they continued up the gravel road until eventually disappearing out of view.

"Huh. You know. I feel really good." stated Warrior, warmness sensed in his voice.

"I know what you mean. Truly relieving and comforting." chimed Fighter. "Eases the mind to see them safe. Hopefully they can be with their families again soon."

Feeling eyes directed at me, I turned around to see the group directing their attention to me.

"And it's all thanks to Merc." said Warrior, demonstrating praise and appreciation on behalf of the rest of the party. "If it weren't for you we would have never been able to complete that extermination quest. We would have died in those caves and those girls would have never been found. At least not alive."

The rest of the party nodded in agreement, some displaying signs of embarrassment and some degree of shame.

I looked at them for a moment before turning around, chuckling.

"Don't sell yourselves short." I said, monotone. My intent is to encourage them and raise their morale. "You proved to be competent adventurers. And while you still have much to learn, there is quite a bit of potential residing in you. Just be mindful of your actions and try to use a little more forethought next time. And make sure you're prepared for the task requirements."

Warrior chuckled. "Heh-heh. Yeah I get what you mean."

"We'll try to be more careful. Ahem." says Fighter, clearing her throat as if to call out someone. Probably Warrior.

"Hey! I-uh...nevermind."

"Well I for one believe I did quite well for myself." said Wizard girl, somewhat sassy with a notable sense of arrogance. "After all, through the use of my spells I accumulated the most goblin kills. Well, expect for Merc, of course."

Slightly concerned about where this might go, I glanced behind me briefly, seeing the group start to exchange mild glares to one another. She was technically right, though they were clearly annoyed by her blatant and casual display of triumph. Pretty apparent she had an issue with overconfidence and a minor superiority the others she made some missteps as well, predominantly underestimating the goblins capacity for violence and nearly being raped and killed as result. Still had to keep them in line while under my supervision.

"Strive for success and be proud." I lectured, calmly with a hint of authority. "Ignorance and Arrogance are the ultimate killers of any operation's chance of success, so remember that. Anyway, in short, you all did good. Just don't let it cloud your actions."

Widening their eyes slightly taken aback, they shrunk their postures like children being called out for a misdoing. Quickly they regained their composure, nodding to me in acknowledgement, most of them reverting back to their previous "happy go lucky" temperaments.

"Thanks, Merc. Feels good to hear that come from you." remarked Warrior, chuckling.

"Yeah, thanks for making us feel important." chimed Fighter.

I chuckled then turned my head around. "Yeah. Now then, how much further are we from Frontier Town?"

"Just another couple or so miles down the gravel road." answered Warrior. "It'll fork out into two pathes: the right will be to Frontier town and the left leads to Water town."

"Right." I replied, thinking. "What's the population count?"

"Oh-um, I don't know an exact amount." he replied, confused. "But maybe a few thousand. It's a fairly big town."

"Damn. That's a lot more exposure then I'd prefer." I muttered, expressing notable concern.

"Something wrong?" asked Fighter, concerned and slightly confused.

I briefly glanced over, shaking my head. "N-No...nothing in particular." I retorted, temporarily detracting my grievance. "_So much for incognito status_." I muttered to myself. Reaching under my back, I grabbed my ARM-11 and unlatched it, re-equipping it and holding it in a ready manner. "Alright little nuggets, let's go." I said in a more casual tone, gesturing the party to follow suit.

There was a short pause, but after a few seconds their footsteps became audible as they started walking. Had to assume they were puzzled by my sudden change in demeanor, likely contemplating on whatever my concern was and why it bothered me. Considering the nature and requirements of my endeavors, I didn't exactly have a stellar history with civvies-especially when amongst large populations. Might be best to keep that info under lock and key.

We continued on, so far our travel was mostly uneventful, at least for the time being. There'd be the occasional passing carriage, every and now again there would be some with open beds with the passengers on board shooting me wide-eyed gazes of puzzlement and surprise-I imagined that would be an occurrence I'd experience a lot once I hit the town and not exactly something I was looking forward to. Inwardly, my own confusion would grow when I only saw the antiqual forms of transportation, no signs of any motorized wheeled or hovercraft vehicles.

The severe lack of any kind of electronic technology should have had me come to some determinate conclusion but as I'd try to rationalize, it would seem like I was actually doing the opposite. My mind would fluctuate between different possibilities and while each had some logical explanation, it would always circulate back to the original point of question-What exactly caused me to be transported here in the first place? Also how did I wind up outside the confines of my ship? I was quickly beginning to question whether I was even on another planet. But this couldn't possibly be Earth, the blatant primitive culture and severe lack of technology made that incredibly clear. Right? Nothing was making any bit of sense.

Pondering, I walked along, regularly eyeing around me as I inspected everything within visual range from near and far. This situation enough irked my nerves as is and continued to drive me nuts but the fact Genysis would maintain operations without my presence both eased and equally unsettled my mind-not because of Genysis himself, or rather itself, its capabilities were beyond measure and success of any mission nothing short of guaranteed and considering our history I didn't expect any insidious activity or plot. No, it was something more-internal. The fact I'd be unable to participate and direct operations, watching the leads unfold and what we'd discover bothered the hell of me. The next planet we were en route possessed some rather peculiar and interesting intel related to it, specifically detailing some obscure biological research taking place on the surface. Whoever oversaw and funded the activities wasn't clear or known. What really drew me was the apparent disappearances of the scientists involved and the strange incidents that occured afterward, particularly with the wildlife and mentioning of mutations. It aggravated me, that I'd be unable to uncover the truth myself and it certainly didn't help contemplating the unforeseen circumstances that might result. It was almost maddening to wonder. My sight would drift up towards the sky, partly in anticipation for Genysis' arrival and that of my ship but also in some introspective questioning and recall of previous instances. Residual effects of the thing that's haunted me all this time still festered. Suddenly, a soft voice broke my train of thought. I glanced behind me to see it was from Priestess. Her round face, doll-like expressed legitimate concern, her blue orbs gazing with child-like innocence.

"Um-uh. , sir? Are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm fine. Just-contemplating." I replied, with dismissiveness.

"Oh-okay." she muttered. "Just checking."

"Hmph. I know." I replied, chuckling.

Going along, I would more or less do what I did earlier, taking in the environment. Mostly I'd just look around scanning the surroundings, subconsciously examining the layout and buildings to find anything that might stand out. Expectantly, I wouldn't actually see anything of note-just miles upon miles of farmland and the sweet, sweet serenade of cow and horse dung, of which the party would remark with disgust. Any of the settlements I'd see were mostly devoid of activity, though every and now again, there'd be the occasional resident or two that'd do the typical lawn care or farm work tasks; they were usually a good mile or two off, a little too far to make out anything distinctive but on occasion one would be within more visual range. Normally, I'd get a shot of that surprised and confounded gaze as the individuals stopped what they'd been doing momentarily-I'd simply ignore them. Eventually, the farmlands would gradually start to thin out and become less prevalent as went- everything from the distinguishable crops, the bales of hay and the livestock as well as horses became less frequent.

"I think we're getting close to those huge boulders." informed Warrior. "Also the clutches of apple trees too. That's an indication that we're close."

"Not to mention the grassland in between." added Fighter.

"Yeah, and then the forking paths"

I glanced behind me and nodded. "Good to know."

Some Point later, it looked as if we were nearing the end of the farmlands as the stone barriers that flanked us appeared to reach a terminal point. I would look around as I have been and saw that the only traces of farmland were really only the buildings themselves and whatever livestock or horses that would migrate around the grass within the stone barriers, grazing. Soon, the grasslands ahead would begin to appear on the horizon and it'd seem we'd be able to travel the final stretches without any more delay.

"Hey, does anyone hear a strange buzzing?" asked Warrior, confused. Uncertain of his claim. "I'm not crazy right?"

"I don't. You sure you're not hearing things?" said Wizardgirl, dismissive.

"Neither do I-oh wait. I think I do." said Fighter, initially dismissive though quickly shares Warrior's concern. "How about you, Priestess?"

"Oh-I...um-I don't know. Maybe." she squeaks, sounding unsure. "M-Merc? Do you hear whatever they are?"

Glancing back to them, noting their concerns, I immediately raised an eyebrow when I watched a notification pop-up on the HUD. Along with that I made out the same buzzing noise the others were hearing and quickly did a scan to pinpoint the direction and source. It would appear I had automatically picked up a signal being emitted off some kind of device and it sounded as if it was airborne. A little more than a few seconds and I started to accrue data on whatever it was that I got a bead on.

**Airborne_vehicle_detected. . . .Inputing_Specs. . . .UAV_Found...**

**[Vehicle_type: Aircraft- UAV_drone, MD: SS-UAV_3+Mk2]**

**[Manufacturer: Remote-SRIVL-SYSS, Developer: Drone_Rs_Buru]**

**[Pwr_Plant: S1-Mk4 Dual-Block_SS-Hydro-cell]**

**-Hrs_pwr: 200ttl_Block-100*2, Thrst: 1500ibs**

**-Crus_Velo: 642km/h, Mxm_Velo: 1050km/h**

**[Chass_Dimensions: Lng-1.24m, Wdth-0.45m, WngSpn-1.40m, Hght-0.39m]**

**[Chass_Wght: 25kg, Comp_Wght: 55kg, Ttl_Wght: 80kg]**

**[Crus_Alt: 12,500m, Mxm_Alt: 14,000m]**

**Scanning. . . .Locating. . . .Inputting data. . . .**

**[Time of signal travel: 0.000016104581secs, 1.6104*10^6picoseconds.]**

**[Est_Distance: 4.8km, 3.0mi]**

Scanning the skies for a bit, I used the data collected and managed to pinpoint the drone's location and position. Highlighting it on the HUD, I directed my sight upward towards the south; I magnified the vision of my helmet's optics several times until I saw a larger view of it. With the computer's AI automatically adjusting the resolution and clearing up the imagery, I got a cleaner look at the drone and its design language. Recognizing the slender, almost rectangular chassis and the trapezoidal thrusters, it's the insignia that really struck out: a sword & shield forged as one with a large W and small uppercase C positioned directly below, front and center.

"WarCorp? That's one of their drones." I muttered, eyeing the UAV with confusion and surprise. "Wonder if it has a view of me?"

I'd gradually zoom my vision out, watching as it would continue to circle over the same general area. It was still as far out as 3 miles and maintaining a similarly proportional altitude, only gradually expanding its search path. Considering that and my U.I.T. jammers disrupting the signals it sent, I think it was safe to say it didn't get bead on my position. Oddly though, despite the drone's presence, of which I assumed there was only one, I had yet to pick up any transmissions being sent out by the squad that deployed it. Come to think about it, I didn't detect any incoming signals or new channels related to a possible source.

Confused, I decided to proceed onward, while hacking into the UAV via my UIT. Utilizing a specialized program, I sent out a series of oscillation signals of various frequencies fluctuating between 120kHz to 500mHZ attempting to confuse the drone's computer as it tries to determine the location of the signal source. Once its radar and navigation systems were going haywire, I uploaded another series of miscellaneous, constantly fluctuating data ranging from random combinations of code to fake directives, whether it be concrete or nonsensical. All of this occurring simultaneously and within a span of nanoseconds, I continued to barrage the drone with conflicting data until its computer was finally overwhelmed and forced to reboot. Once I made it undergo a system wipe, I linked it to my UIT and proceeded to upload my own modified code and log of directives.

**Establishing_link_Cnnt. . . .Uploading_replicated_data. . . Finalizing**

**[New user detected: hello_ZR#011] [Awaiting_Directives]**

Dancing a finger around, sifting through the menu and adjusting some settings I direct myself to the camera. Presented with it's bird's eye view, I manually operated the drone's camera sensors and briefly cycled their visual feed over the landscape whilst still in a circular flight path. Setting the UAV to 'commandeer' mode, I dismissed the computer's AI to passive operation proceeding to take direct control of the drone's flight movements. With subtle, acute gestures I moved my fingers across the screen of the UIT as I remotely operated the UAVs movements, flying it around in a free-form test flight. I did this for a little over a minute, looping around, usually within a 3 or 4 mile radius, ascending and descending as I tested my level of control over the power and navigation systems. A while, I'd move the camera around as I flew the drone, zooming in on and scanning random objects down below, marking and highlighting anything from vegetation to buildings and testing its rangefinders as well as the targeting system. Everything in working order, I directed the UAV on a southern flight path towards me, testing the drone's I.F.F. targeting program as I did a pass over the farmlands and scanned the livestock, briefly marking them as mock targets before resetting. I continued to fly the UAV towards our position until it was directly above us. With the camera having a visual on us, I magnified its vision several dozen times until I was able to see myself and the party through the perspective of the UAV. As I saw myself looking up at the drone, the teens shot confused looks at me before they themselves began peering upwards, clearly puzzled and unsure what my sight was directed at.

"I hear it more clearly now." said Warrior, his tone more emphasized. "Sounds like the buzzing of a really big bee mixed with the hiss of crackling fire."

"You're right it does. It's kinda faint but I hear too." says Fighter in a similar tone. "What is that coming from? Merc?"

Without responding to them initially, I zoomed out the camera's perspective and returned it to the base setting with the broadened view of the landscape. Initially I planned on setting the UAV off ahead to survey the landscape and create a topographical map I could follow via the camera imagery and harddrive database; I suspected this planet lacked any satellites or other orbital surveillance systems. I'd imagine that I'd be able to get a better idea of society's infrastructure as well-assuming it's similarly outdated like I've seen so far.

Currently my main concern was the apparent lack of any WarCorp presence-no visual on any ground troops or vehicles, nor did I see any dropship or transport shuttles or hear the distinctive hum of high-altitude thrusters. Something wasn't seeming quite right-I had yet to pick up on any new or recognizable frequencies or channels.

"_Merc seems unusually quiet." whispered Warrior to the others. "Seems like he's fixated on something.?"_

"_Wonder if something is wrong. Think we should be concerned?" she asked, returning in a whisper. "Wonder if he knows what that buzzing sound is coming from." _

"_Maybe this is what he does when he suspects danger." whispered Wizard girl. _

"_I have a bad feeling about this." whispered Priestess, expressing worry. "_Um. . . . sir?"

Moving on still through the farmlands, I maintained a degree of alertness as I looked around-I wanted to be mindful of any new or unexpected events but tried to remain subtle so as not to spike the party's nerves. Another hundred meters or so from the point where the farmlands and grasslands meet, I received a notification on the HUD.

**[Advisory] [Multiple points of Unknown EM activity detected] **

**[Send UAV to investigate? Yes? No?]**

Squinting my eyes in confusion, I selected no, I wanted the drone to remain in proximity to me for now. _What did it mean by Unknown EM activity? Couldn't have been an EMP being dispersed by a weapon or device, otherwise it would have displayed that straight-forward. Was I picking up the residual energy waves of vessels leaving Warp space? No way, it's too close to the planet? Then again what else would it be? _I waited and listened in for any new updates.

**Calculating_estimate_point_of_detection. . . .5/locations:found. . .**

**(South-East: 45.65km), (South: 125km), (East: 63km), (West: 37km), (East: 3.65km)**

**[Update: EM activity detected nearby]**

Unexpectedly, one of the bizarre EM phenomena manifested much closer than I anticipated, as if I expected such a thing to begin with-What the hell was I dealing with? Might WarCorp or possibly some other anonymous group be warping directly with the planet's atmosphere?! The drone should have been a red flag but it was yet to be determined. Whatever the case I'd need to get these kids out of a zone of possible incursion. I halted movement, giving the others a hand signal to do the same.

"Listen up. I'm going to investigate an AOPE." I inform. "Gonna need you to find shelter and stay out of sight. But only temporarily."

"Oh-wait. . .what's wrong?" asked Warrior, puzzled with a hint of concern. "Is there trouble afoot?"

"Should we be worried?" asked Fighter.

"Could it be more bandits?" questioned Wizard girl, sounding notably uneasy.

I glanced over my shoulder. "Not sure what it could be-" I stated. "Exactly why I want to investigate."

"Wh-Where do you want us to go?" asked Priestess, anxious.

"Do you know anyone that lives in this area?" I asked

Everyone exchanged apprehensive looks of inquiry before turning to Warrior; he looked as though he was contemplating.

"Hmm. W-well there's that old farmer." says Warrior. "Used to help him with work around his property. Kind old fart. . . he's probably not home right now. But his wife might be."

"Good. Where is it? and how far?" I asked, satisfied to know they had a possible to go.

"Uh. . .down south, maybe a little over a mile." he replied, his tone indicating he had to take time to recall. "It's the 3rd house we passed, along the way."

"Good. Head there." I said.

"How long will you be gone?" asked Priestess, concerned.

"I don't know. Until I deem the area safe." I said.

"W-will you come back?" asked Priestess, worried and almost apprehensive.

I nodded. "Yes. Now go! That's an order!" I commanded, in a slight tone.

The teens exchanged concerned expressions before nodding and heeding my instruction. Fighter briefly glanced back and called out as they ran off.

"Please be careful, Merc!" exclaimed Fighter.

I gave a quick nod, then turned around. Before I proceeded forward from there, I took control of the UAV and flew it towards the south in the direction of the party; I continued to remotely operate the drone, watching over the group through the camera as they made progress towards their destination. Panning in and out, I'd monitor their movement and everything around their proximity, making sure there was nothing suspicious or hazardous. They would peer up to the sky every now and again with confused and curious looks but otherwise appeared fine. A little later over twenty minutes pass as I watch them cover the last stretches of land and proceed to approach the home Warrior mentioned; they stand at the door looking to be knocking before it opens and someone appears to let them inside.

"Good. That should keep them out of any fray that might ensue." I said, feeling somewhat relieved.

Calling the drone back to my position, I began to set out through the last stretches of farmland. My comms link had yet to pick up any new transmissions so far-a conspicuous lack of any channels or signals being received was puzzling to say the least. Traveling down the gravel awhile, I'd notice the significant decline in traffic frequency, it'd seem I'd see a carriage pass only every other hour or so and it appeared the farmlands also seemed devoid of any activity-which would probably prove to be a good thing. As I drew closer to the grasslands, I soon began to pick up static or white noise being emitted from one of the points of concentrated EM radiation-presumably strongest from the nearest to me.

Breaking off the gravel road and setting foot on grassland, I headed east toward the EM signature keeping along the outermost stone barrier that bordered the farmlands. Each time I got closer, the frequency and intensity of the EM radiation gradually increased but otherwise remained as indiscernible static and it seemed to be the same case for the other locations as well, at least for now. Continuing to hug along the barrier, I briefly slowed down and stopped, crouching down and swapping out my ARM-11 for my DAMR-62 AMR. I briefly popped my head up to look around, checking the area for any incoming travelers or activity from the locals. So far the area appeared to be clear, I didn't see anything to take particular note of and none of the sensors registered anything as well. Directing my attention back to the east, it would be apparent the point of EM activity was too small and too far off to be immediately visible-though I was able to distinguish some circular shaped rippling in and around the affected spot as well as some emitted light that flickered- albeit, faint and intermittent. Looking around, the land ahead or the grassland, as expected was mostly open with half a dozen or so maple trees scattered about the terrain, along with a few clusters of rocks here and there- A hundred meters to my 3 0'clock was a particularly large boulder. Before I advanced, I sent the drone off ahead to scout out the point of EM activity and everything within a 30 meter radius. Taking another quick gander around I moved from the stone wall, double-timing it in a low-profile crouch walk, making my way to the large boulder. Easing closer to the rock then halting, I hunker down near its surface, its meter and half height enough to keep my 2m stature obscured from the other end-I take another brief look around before I activate my LRS, warping the air around me and distorting most of the light hitting in my direction.

Circling above, I began to observe the site through the UAV's camera array. Zooming in, I could start to make something out: from above, the EM event appeared as a transparent, distorted band of air with immediately visible emitted light undergoing a prismatic effect. Any areas outside a 3 meter radius appeared unaffected and relatively normal. I continued to circle the drone around above, scanning the EM phenomena uptaking data of its quantum characteristics simultaneously snapping images for examination of a later date. A while, static and white noise gradually declined in frequency and rate of intensity-suddenly then I was beginning to pick up something else on the other end. Contorting my face in both puzzlement and curiosity, I started to hear what sounded like voices, albeit heavily garbled and unintelligible though something of note.

I hadn't yet picked up any new signals or transmissions, however with a little bit of audio adjustment, I was able to improve the sound quality to some degree. While I listened in trying to discern and interpret what was being said on the other side, several blips popped up on my motion sensor-not originating from the EM point but somewhere behind me. Briefly turning back, I directed my sight to my 5 O'clock to the south-east towards the farmlands; I could hear the faint sounds of voices and child-like giggling. Lifting my DAMR-62 and aiming it towards the suspected direction, I peered through the computerized scope gradually scanning the environment until whatever triggered the motion sensor came into view. Magnifying several times, I saw through the scope, a single adult male and several young children: two boys and a girl- a parent and their children. I carefully observed their movement- the adult, the father or possibly other relative or guardian appeared to be tending some of the crops whilst he watched the youngins closeby; the two boys whom looked to be around 8 or 9 years of age, carried wooden toy swords and appeared to be play fighting; a dozen meters from them looked to be the youngest child, a very small girl, who couldn't be no more than four or five years, she stumbled about while trying to playing with the dog. They, as expected, were unaware of my presence and initially of the EM phenomena; they were well within the boundries of their property, nearly 70 meters off from my position and over 2km distant from the EM activiy. The family seemingly ignorant and oblivous of said EM activity went about their business-the dog initially darting around as it playfully toyed with the toddler, began to sniff the air gradually inching towards the west. A few dozen meters from the westerly barrier, it halted; the border collie bent a leg, stiffening its body as it continued to sniff until its nose detected something-the EM phenomena, it likely picked up the faint burning smell and the electric crackle. Curious and stimulated, the border collie went into a barking fit in turn alerting the family, who, primarily the father, shot the dog a confound expression.

"Shit. That dog's nose is picking up the EM signature." I muttered, concerned. "Can't let that dog lead him to the site. This isn't a matter a civvie should intervene in."

I glanced at my AMR, the currently fed magazine and my reserve magazines, three to count and 24 rounds total. Watching the dog loosen itself about to bolt off, I temporarily broke away from my aim and directed the AMR upwards several dozen meters above them; I squeezed the trigger and fired off into the air.

An incredibly loud and reverberative crack echoes as the 15.7mm armor-piercing round explodes out of the chamber, the bullet traveling over 2.5 miles and likely to safely drop into an unoccupied area. This provides an expected result: the border collie bolts off in fear as the father follows suit urging his children back into the house and out of sight. Fortunately, a warning shot proved to be effective and while I had no intent or desire to resort to lethal means, this was one of the few circumstances that would be considered.

"That should keep them at bay." I commented, lowering my AMR, feeling satisfied. "For the meantime at least."

Staring briefly out into the distance in ponder, I snapped out of the state when I saw several new channels picked up by the UIT and pop up on the HUD interface.

**[Update]...multiple_LF/HF_signals_detected(4)... **

**1.]Source: unknown(Wavelength range: 3.56kHZ to 501kHZ)**

**2.]Source: unknown(Wavelength range: 3.58kHZ to 500kHZ)**

**3.]Source: unknown(Wavelength range: 3.1kHZ to 502kHZ)**

**4.]Source: unknown(Wavelength range: 30kHZ to 501kHZ)...Updating..**

**Scanning. . .Signal_frequency_range_stabilizing. . .Isolating. . .**

**Establishing_new_channel. . .(Avg. Frequency range: 61kHZ-64kHZ)**

**Source: WCBG/LF-S3(95% probability); (Wavelength range: 62kHZ)**

**Decrypting. . . . . . . Cleaning_Sound. . . .Interpreting. . . . .**

**[Voice#1]: Cobalt to base do you read me? Come in, Iron base we are en route to destination, Tres-3441a2. ETA 2 mikes.**

**[Voice#2]: I don't think…(*static* )...comms are dark. We aren't getting through. Over**

**[Voice#1]: Shit. Copy. Do we have contact with the other teams? Over**

**[Voice#2]: Negative. Comms are fubar. . .(*static*). . .Something's corrupting the signal. Advise we wait until. . .(signal breaks up)**

**[Voice#3]: Sir! Warp drive is malfunctioning. . .(*static*)**

**[Voice#1]: Son of a bitch! Acknowledged. Ready weapons and equipment were taking a detour! Maintain cohesion and wait for further instructions! We're jumping out of Warp!**

_Several moments lapse as the electrical crackle intensifies, a warble becomes audible-initially faint but rapidly increases in volume. Flickers of light flash intermittently, each time brighter and brighter; it quickly became visible even in cover behind the boulder. _

Narrowing my eyes, I thrust upward and direct my attention to the EM point. Peering through the AMR's scope, I magnified the view and observed the EM phenomena which appeared as a circular vortex and distortion of space. Waiting in anticipation, the kaleidoscopic mosaic of whitish blues and greens cycle more rapidly as a netting of electrical-like matter crackles; emitted light continues to flash with elevated frequency and intensity until reaching an apex-within the blink of an eye something shoots out of the portal. Adjusting sight; a vessel propels through the air, mere feet from the ground, suddenly veering off, thrusters humming loudly before rapidly descending into an incline and violently crashing into the earth. Dozens of tons of dirt kick up as it excavates earth until ceasing 1500 meters from the EM point, directly into one of the trees, bursting it apart and uprooting it. A thick veil of dust briefly obscures view of the vessel before the wind quickly disperses it. A shuttle comes into view- the boxy, trapezoidal shape recognizable with its dark brown paint and alloy/laminate composite haul; the insignia matching that of the drone.

"That's definitely a WarCorp troop carrier." I said. "What the hell happened to them? How'd they get transported this close?" I questioned, growingly puzzled.

Continuing to observe from a distance, I directed the UAV to the crash site and circled it above. Viewing from the drone's perspective and through my AMR's scope, I watched the shuttle, waiting for something to happen. At first I questioned whether they even survived, which seemed unlikely considering the near supersonic speeds the shuttle was launched and the sudden impact-a little over a minute later, one of the side doors visibly shook before giving out and breaking off from the haul of the shuttle. Emerging out the cabin, a trooper stumbles clearly disoriented holding his head; he proceeds to look around, briefly turning behind and stepping aside as several more of his comrades exit the shuttle, similarly rattled. Watching them recomposing themselves, I tuned back in for more chatter-clearly something went wrong here and wondered what.

**[Voice#4]: Ugggh *groans* My fucking head, fucking cataclysmic headache.**

**[Voice#5]: Hear ya there, mate. Feel like total shit, like I stumbled my ass outta centrifuge after being assaulted by a mean-ass hangover after a 24hr banger. That shit fuckin sucked.**

**[Voice#2]: Everyone...well, who's ever left that is. Appears we've suffered some casualties, 3 kia and one injured; the pilots are kia, and Travers, our comms specialist, is dead...and so is our leader. **

**[Voice#6]: No shit? That makes you squad leader then, doesn't it? **

**[Voice#2]: Yea, it does, be damned. Merkin's cervical vertebrae snapped like a twig and he suffered severe hemorrhaging, mostly in the brain and chest cavity-he, and everyone else rattled round and round like some crazy pinball machine. **

**[Voice#3]: What about Lucas? The polack?**

**[Voice#5]: Real fucked in lotta places. Dislocated pretty every joint and limb, may as well be jelly. He's got some serious pneumothorax complications, several broken ribs and not to mention a minor concussion-doesn't matter though, his lungs are filled to the brim with blood and other fluids. Motherfucker may as well be dead-I give him 10 or 15 minutes.**

**[Voice#2]: Damn. How is everyone else? What's our total headcount?**

**[Voice#6]: Aside from a bitch of a headache; it looks like everyone is in one piece. We're down from 8 to 6-I don't know the statuses of the other teams.**

**[Voice#2]: Acknowledged. *Radios in* (Come in Iron base, do you read me? We've made an unintentional detour, due to some unknown or unforeseen anomaly our shuttle's warp drive malfunctioned; we've somehow been transported into some unknown planet's atmosphere and crash-landed on the surface. Post-impact, we suffered 3 confirmed kias and one injured, soon to be kia number 4. Our shuttle sustained moderate structural damage but one of the main thrusters is out of commission. Cobalt team 1 squad leader is kia; this is Manson, I have taken place as the new squad leader. No word from the other groups. Over.**

**[Voice#6]: I don't think we're getting through; our radios aren't receiving any signal feedback. Any transmission we send will be empty and won't go nowhere-matter of fact I don't think there's even a source of reception. No signal towers or stations, notta.**

**[Voice#2]: Shit! Thought something felt off. What about that of the other teams? How about their comms? **

**[Voice#6]: Nothin. Same deal, we literally have zero source to receive from or send to; we're blind for the time being. Doesn't help we have a limited supply of ammunition and medikits. Maybe 4000 rounds total, 1800 for ARs and SMGs and 2100 for the LMGs and less then 100 for sniper rifles and other heavy weapons.**

**[Voice#4]: Ah fellas. . .there's still the giant fucking elephant in the room.**

**[Voice#2]: Speak up, Malthers. What is it?**

**[Voice#4]: How about where we landed, the planet. . .WHERE IN THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE WE?!**

**[Voice#5]: That's a good fuckin point. I'm not seeing any marshlands or swamps, just grassland and some trees. Air is breathable at least and the place is obviously habitable. **

**[Voice#2]: Clearly we don't have a map and obviously have no prior information on the planet. Do we have any of the drones? If they're functional that is. Maybe deploy one of them ahead of us to scan out the landscape and have the computers create a topographical map for navigation. So how do we look?**

**[Voice#4]: From what I can see, we do have the one UAV but the battery's alternator is shot and the battery itself is busted and fried, fubar. And as for the other, well-it's nowhere to be seen, it's missing. **

**[Voice#2]: Shit. What the hell happened?**

**[Voice#4]: Some kind of Electro-magnetic discharge likely shorted out the one, some point just before the jump from warp space and between our crash landing. No fucking clue what happened to the other UAV, likely destroyed before or during impact.**

**[Voice#2]: Damn it. **

**[Voice#3]: Hey! Over there! Looks like there's wheat and corn, and other kinds of crops. We've got some farmlands 2.5 klicks east, surrounded by small stone walls!**

**[Voice#4]: Well, I'll be damned. Could this be one of the outer worlds? I knew a little less than a dozen have been documented so far.**

**[Voice#2]: I don't know but we'll find out in the meantime. Listen up everyone! As you know already, we've wound up on the planet "who the fuck knows where" and I'm not sure how long we'll be here. It seems as the circumstance entails that we'll likely be cut off from contact with HQ or the rest of the teams for a while and I'm uncertain when we'll receive another transmission, if there is even anything here to recieve or send any signals. So this is the current plan: We split up into two teams of three. I'll be the leader of team 1; Daniels, you'll be leading team 2, got it? **

**[Voice#4]: Understood. What are we doing?**

**[Voice#2]: Okay, so considering one UAV is out of commission and the other is presumably destroyed or missing, we'll have to go around on foot and get a layout of the landscape. I want us to split up into two teams and survey the terrain and infrastructure; get us an idea of the setting we're working in. First goal will be trying to find a suitable place to set up as a temporary base of operations until further notice. Awhile, utilize the camera's in your helmets to capture images of geographical layout: hills, mountains, trees, plains and everything else that'll help form a useful piece to work from. We'll use the nav-computer to construct a more indepth, comprehensive topographical map after we've compiled all the images we've gathered. Little by little until we have a significant piece for reference.**

**[Voice#5]: Quick question: What of our stock of supplies? We have barely enough MREs to last a day and only two medikits, and of course the limited munitions. What of the populace and settlements?**

**[Voice#2]: Good question. Travel around them for now and navigate the landscape in accordance to the plan; search for a place to hold out. As for the residents, ignore them, unless they happen to be residing in a location that might be somewhere we can hunker up in-in that scenario, kick and kill. Don't need any witnesses or anyone snooping , somewhere isolated or distant from any high concentrations of population.**

**[Voice#5]: Right. The shuttle then? Standard protocol I assume?**

**[Voice#2]: Yeah. Alright boys! Clear the cabin of whatever remaining supplies and ammunition are stored. Jameson, Fernandez, set the explosive charges unto the shuttle. Once it's destroyed, you guys head north and my team will set off toward the south. Rendezvous point is any place that suits our needs. Maintain regular radio contact 30 mikes after this point.**

**[voice#4]: Roger that! You two heard him. Clear it out and then blow up the shuttle!**

A hair over 10 minutes passed, as I watched them unload the contents of their downed shuttle; storing and distributing ammo boxes as well as medikits inside their backpacks. One portion of the group begins to set off toward the south, while the other proceeds to plant the explosive charges on four different points along the shuttle's haul. Sometime later, the group responsible for demolition begins to head off North; a few more minutes pass lapse, for fractions of a second a bright orange orb glowed as the explosion expanded outward, engulfing the destroyed shuttle in a mushroom cloud of smoke and dust. A booming follows, thundering and echoing, gradually dissipating as the seconds tick by and the two teams continue to travel to their intended destinations.

"No doubt the locals heard that." I muttered. "Sounds like these troopers are in a similar predicament I'm in. What's going on?"

My mind wondered, staring blankly through the scope at the burning husk of their transport shuttle; it was pretty evident I wouldn't be collecting any intelligence from that.

As I switched my sight between the troopers, a faint electrical crackle began to become audible, slowly increasing in volume. Suspecting what it was, I snapped my attention to the EM portal, which seemed to be becoming more luminous and the electric-like netting of ionized gas spiraled wildly. Confused as to what was happening, it continued to brighten and began to distort until disappearing with a loud, abrupt clap. Raising an eyebrow, baffled, it would be apparent that nothing else would be traveling through that portal anymore-I started to wonder if I passed through such a thing back in the caverns. Refraining from getting too deep in thought, I re-trained sight back to the destroyed shuttle and proceeded to scan from there trying to track the troopers movements-it seemed in that short span of time they managed to walk out of view. No matter, I'd just use the drone to find down their current positions and it wouldn't have been difficult as I kept track of the general direction they were heading.

I decided to send the UAV north-wise, considering that direction led to one of the higher populated settlements, Frontier town. Heading from the downed shuttle I directed the drone North, panning in and out until I was able to make out the PMCs on the ground not more than a minute later. Up above, I watched them trek across the landscape, much of which looked to be mostly more grassland and plains; they moved in a v-formation, approximately 10 meters apart with the leader up in front. At certain points they would halt their movement, likely to survey the surroundings for cartographical purposes as well as to checkout for possible opposition. For some time they continued to progress as they have, weaving through some trees and through fields of flowers; they'd gradually ascend upward inclining terrain-interestingly, their subtle movements and gestures suggested they were expectant of the area ahead, as though they were beginning to become aware and heading specifically for what caught their attention. Eventually, it appeared they came to what looked to be some high-rising land giving them the idea to set up a position of overlook, almost as though they had a clear view of whatever was within the area ahead of them. With a signal the leader gave them an instruction to lie low, each of the troopers lowered themselves onto their abdomen and into prone. Their weapons were drawn in a precautionary manner, directed downward, but their hand signals indicated they were likely intent on scouting the area ahead and weapons were ready if need be. I think I had an idea of what they were looking at.

"Wonder if it's Frontier town they're looking at." I questioned. "That's supposed to be where I'm heading."

I watched them pull out a flat, rectangular device. Likely the nav-computer they spoke about earlier. I imagined they were inputting data they gathered on the geography and probably pieced together a regional map; they'd likely then be there for a short while. With the UAV hovering above their position still, I marked each of them, a visual effect in the form of a red film highlighted their bodies and a moment later, a red dash appeared on the Northern portion of the motion-sensor's border. Considering they were well over 2 klicks from my own position, I decided they were a little too out of the way to pursue just yet. Wanting to track down the other team next, there was still the matter of whatever the troopers below were fixed on and that almost undoubtedly being some kind of settlement or place of residence. Intent on directing the drone North-west of the troopers position and doing a passover of the site in question, I caught movement on the motion sensor. Narrowing my eyes in confusion and concern, I watched several green blips, four to be precise, appear from the South- 400 meters and closing. Turning my back toward the rock, I directed my sight toward the farmlands, specifically, the gravel road. Listening in on the audio I picked up, I raised an eyebrow in puzzlement recognizing the voices and who they were originating from.

"Wait a second-is it those kids?" I muttered, quietly questioning. "If so, they're making it pretty hastily to me."

A few moments later, I watched the teens quickly emerge into view-come to think of it. I wondered if they'd even be able to spot me; I was cloaked after all. From a distance I saw them move about with noticeable urgency, briefly splitting from one another as they frantically search for my whereabouts.

"_What do you think those loud, booming sounds were?" questioned Warrior._

"_Not sure. But they sounded like explosions!" Fighter replied, sounding alarmed._

"_Whatever caused the explosions couldn't be far." stated Wizard Girl. "It sounded like they were fairly close by. I'd wager my life that's where Merc is to be."_

"_I pray to the Earth mother, he's okay." uttered Priestess, worriedly. "Those explosions sounded really loud and destructive."_

"_He's definitely gonna be mad we left without his consent." said Warrior, his voice anxious. _

Heading in my direction, of course unaware of my presence, they went west towards the direction of the downed shuttle and former EM activity. Passing by me, they went further into the grassland, splitting up as they continued to search for me and likely whatever they thought created the explosions. I had to say, despite just being teenagers they possessed some notably keen ears, not only being able to the explosions but discern the general direction. Impressive, but they really shouldn't have run all the way out here, considering the circumstance; it's impulsive and foolish-funnily though, I did find it interesting they were actually concerned about me and my wellbeing. Regardless, it wasn't wise to just blindly run out here, especially with six heavily armed and armored mercenaries skulking about. Standing up from my crouched position, I turned around and looked over the boulder out into the grasslands, watching the teens continue their needless searching. I chuckled, finding it somewhat amusing as well as humorous. Regardless, I shook my head and sighed. Uncloaking, I walked around the boulder and whistled, drawing the teens attention.

"Huh?. . .oh, it's Merc! There he is." called out Warrior. "Where did you come from?"

"Not important. Why did you leave the house?" I asked, in a slightly raised monotone voice. "I distinctly recall ordering you to remain there until I finished."

The rookie warrior grimaced. "Well, I know but. . ." he stuttered, Fighter interjected before he finished.

"You did but then we heard booming sounds." she explained. "Those explosions sounded really close and weren't sure what caused them. We couldn't help but investigate and look for you."

"Also admittedly. . .we got a little curious." added Warrior, chuckling nervously. "Sorry."

"Anyway. What if you died?" says Wizard girl, bluntly. "Who'd have vouched for us?"

I briefly glared at her before snickering. "You'd need not worry about that. I know full well how to handle myself; I'm no stranger to dangerous situations." I informed, matter of factly. "Point being: You disobeyed my order and ran off without consent and clearly disregarded any forethought."

The teens stared thoughtfully at me, then exchanged similar looks between one another before shrinking with guilt. Almost akin to dogs being called by an owner for a misdeed. Annoyed as I was from their disregard of my instruction; I couldn't be completely angry towards them. As impulsive and reckless as they initially were, it seemed under the proper guidance they could evolve into competent and learned adventurers. I found their curious, naivety-almost endearing. They were children after all.

" , Sir. We're s-sorry we left without your permission." apologized Priestess, sheepishly. "There were abrupt loud booming noises-then sudden silence. We were worried-about you, sir." she says clutching her staff closer towards her chest, looking away nervously.

Glaring at her and then to the others in annoyance, I soften my expression to that of contemplation. I shook my head and sighed in minor exasperation. "You damn kids. So impulsive and impatient. Heh." I muttered, calmly, just barely enough for them to hear me. My tone was meant to be interpreted as less degrading and more out of an ironic amusement. Their looks might suggest otherwise but whatever the case.

"Heh-heh. . .right. We'll try not to be so rash next time." said Warrior, chuckling nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're the boss."

"So what now?" asked Wizard girl.

"No point in telling you to go back now." I said, bluntly. I turned around and headed towards the gravel road, gesturing the others to follow. "We're heading back towards the North. To this Frontier town. Let's go."

"Right! After you!" said Warrior.

"We're coming!" called out Fighter.

Hearing the soft crunch of their footsteps against the grass, we left the grassland and set foot onto the gravel road. Proceeding again to the North, I referred back to the UAV which continued to hover over the same area as before; its video feed showed that the pmcs had left their previous spot and for some time. I didn't pan over to search for them, I didn't need to as I uploaded their coordinates into the drone's database and unto my UIT; I could continue to track their movements for the time being-provided they maintained possession of their suits and equipment. Directional dashes indicated they were traveling North-east, 1.5 klicks from their last position and 4 klicks from our own-it was apparent they had no intention on setting into the town, at least for now. Deciding not to pan ahead, I pulled the UAV away and directed it southwise, where I suspected the other group was heading. After a short minute of flight time and point referencing, I quickly pinpointed the other team's position: they were on the move, heading south/south-west as expected; they were 4.5 clicks off and moving at about 6km per hour. Their destination I wasn't quite sure of, but I had to assume they would likely just continue with their cartography while searching for a hideout. I'd doubt they'd use their weapons unless absolutely necessary and as brutal as they were prone to being, most WarCorp troopers weren't stupid, well, keyword most-still the opportunity to take them irked me, even if it wise to keep around for intel purposes. All the while, this made me wonder if Genysis might encounter whatever I or these WarCorp detachments stumbled upon. Hopefully my ship would show up, even if it seemed like wishful thinking at this point.

"We're coming up on Frontier town. " said Warrior. "It's just over the hill ahead and past those trees and meadows."

"That so?" I replied, mostly rhetorically.

"Yep. We're getting close. Maybe another 10 or 15 minutes walk." replied Fighter.

Nodding in acknowledgement, I temporarily turned my attention back to the drone's video feed. Seeing nothing new, I called the UAV back to my position. Drawing closer to the hill ahead, the drone above quickly made its way over to me at 400 kilometers per hour plus speeds-as it did I peered down below at the landscape through its camera bubble when there was an audible thud as the video feed shook, almost like something hit the drone. I raised an eyebrow, confused, at first thinking it might have just been my imagination but then I swore I could hear a brief faint tweeting before there was a sudden hiss and sputtering. Drifting into view were a flurry of feathers just as the thrusters reverted back to normal function without an indication of structural damage. Stupid bird probably got caught in the flight path of the drone; likely got sucked up into one of the thrusters and grated beyond recognition-found it somewhat amusing.

Walking along, my attention drifted back to the Northeast; I gazed into the distance imaging the team of troopers traveling and where they'd likely end up next. I'd have been lying if I didn't want to intercept them-but that could be delayed for now. I'd undoubtedly run into them again at some point in the near future-especially with regards to history with them.

Coming up to the hill, I picked up multiple movement signatures with the sound of horses clip-clopping soon becoming audible from a carriage closeby. Heading over the hill, the town ahead was partially obscured by some trees and the somewhat uneven terrain, the gravel road conforming and gradually descending down. Two large meadows flanked the gravel road, as we went, I noticed a couple of individuals wandering about inside the fields of dandelions; they were a little over 200 meters off, a bit far to be discern any features initially as we got closer it appeared to a male and female, possibly late teens or early twenties- golden haired woman and a man with auburn hair. Passing by, I'd slowly turn my head forward as I glanced at the two. I assumed they were romantically associated, their blissful and carefree demeanors seemed to suggest that as they playfully wandered about the meadow-I didn't feel any sense of envy or longing but it probed some buried thoughts, which quickly faded. Continuing on, the carriage heard earlier was in immediate view moving at a modest rate of 6km per hour; we soon closed the distance on it. Approaching it and beginning to pass it by, an open bed carriage seeming to carry various goods such as food crops and cloth, the contents aside, its occupants would inadvertently start to make note of my appearance. Sitting on an opposite facing bench seat, a young woman with shortcut salmon hair wearing overalls initially peered in another direction, seemingly in deep thought, turned towards me with almost instant surprise, wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape. "_Who is that?" _she would mutter, and almost immediately afterward her "chauffeur" also incidentally catches sight of my large, obsidian hued armored profile-his reaction was more pronounced, letting out a diaphragmatic gasp and a mixed expression of surprise and fecal evacuation shock. I kept my attention mostly forward, only glancing slightly as they continued to maintain their stunned, curious gazes on me; I found it a small bit amusing but it mainly just made me annoyed and uncomfortable. After a minute's time, we fully bypassed the carriage starting to put some distance between us and I was sure baffled eyes were still bored into me-evident by Warrior's comment.

"Huh, they seemed taken back." he muttered. "Wonder what'll be like when we get to the town."

I huffed, disgruntled. "Not looking forward to that."

Several minutes later, we came within less than a thousand meters from the town. Coming to the trees that still somewhat obstructed the view, I briefly halted our movement. Under the canopy of treetops, I peered from a distance toward the town which was further down the incline, examining it with a combination of deliberate observation and puzzlement-trying to comprehend what I was seeing. I didn't quite have a complete vantage of the town but automatically felt something off about it. Before we progressed forward, I diverted my attention to the UAVs video feed; I briefly zoomed its camera in on our position, looking upward towards it as the drone circled above. Taking its camera off myself and the group, I directed the UAV on a flight path toward the town covering the distance in a few seconds. I veered its course slightly as I started to direct it on a circular flight path around and above Frontier town, zooming in inspecting its aspect and layout. Right away I could tell that this wasn't the type of settlement I was familiar with. The town appeared to be fairly large, similar in size to something you'd see present on a lot of the outer colonies, occupying several hundred acres of land-however its the internal infrastructure that aroused my questioning. Portion by portion I panned around the layout which consisted of dozens of buildings, usually two or three stories, lining the miles of dirt with cobblestone roads channelling through them. Most notably, much of the structures appeared to be composed of mostly archaic materials such as wood or stone if not both with some buildings appearing to contain sparse amounts of metal. Unlike the alloys and concrete used in the infrastructure found on the main colonies or even outer worlds and no tarmac roads either. The severe lack of technology or current day building materials made me think less that I was looking at a colony with a lack of resources and more of a settlement stuck in the medieval era or something straight out of a fantasy setting or folklore. I could feel my stomach sink as a series of outlandish possibilities rapidly crossed my mind-I began to question if I was even in my own timeline._ What planet was I even on to start with?_

"Hey, uh, Merc? Why'd we stop?" asked Warrior.

Breaking my train of thought, I briefly glanced over. "Nothing to concern yourself over. Just doing a bit of observation." I replied, turning back to my UIT.

"Oh, uh, carry on then." he said, chuckling timidly.

"Hey Merc, I've noticed you have been looking a lot at that thing." says Fighter, prying. "That blocky, rectangular looking doohickey. You never mentioned what it was."

I lifted my head and turned towards her. "Utility Implementation Tool, or UIT for short. It's a wrist-bound device, a computer." I answered. "Other details and specifications are classified information." I finished, speaking frankly and not wanting to reveal more delicate info on my military hardware.

"What's a 'computer', Mr. Merc, sir?" asked Priestess with a small degree of nervousness.

"Yeah never heard of such a thing." chimed Wizard girl.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I'd prefer not to play 20 questions. Let's just get a move on shall we?"

Progressing forward again down the gravel road, I left the UAV in flight above the town maintaining a bird's eye view of its layout as I processed an area map. It would seem that the carriage that was behind us earlier had passed by some short time ago disappearing from sight into the inner works of the town-I'm sure I wasn't spared from the wandering gazes. Eventually the landscape gradually starts to level out again, the town was now in full view appearing exactly as it looked on the drone's camera imagery, its inner workings and activity

soon picked up through my earphones. Approaching the entrance, I noticed an assortment of several one story buildings that looked to be posts of some kind, mostly constructed of wood and a stone foundation. Initially appearing to be unoccupied, multiple blips popped on the motion tracker as three men exited one the wooden cabins- two of them conversing while another leisurely puffed a cigar or some other type of tobacco based product.

"_Damn. Sitting on my ass in a cabin all day is so underwhelming!" complained a fair-skinned man with red tousled hair. "This town's so boring."_

"_I hear that. Wouldn't mind going on a long trip, to a new land." said another man with short brown hair tied in a bow. _

"_Yeah. Slay dangerous beasts-and the booty!"_

"_Heh. I heard rumors of dragons residing in the mountain range far south from here." spoke a black-haired man, smoking a cigar. "And giants to the far North, then of course you've got the demons up in the capital-but anything of that caliber is for silver and above. Us steel ranked and below, it'd probably be suicide-maybe stick to bandits and unruly visitors."_

"_Pessimistic much?"_

"_Nah. Just being realistic." he replied. "Besides we are being paid pretty well by the guild to be watchouts. Anyway, I heard the rate of goblin raids on villages has been increasing-rumor has it they're building an army and they have warriors equivalent to a platinum-ranked adventurer. I mean I doubt it but something to think about."_

"_Huh, well, Goblins aren't much. Nasty, to be sure" he said, disinterested. "Quest reward is poor and they're lower than dirt. Most adventurers won't bother with'em, let alone any of the silver's and up. Well, except for one that is. What do they call him? Goblin Slayer? That guy does nothing but kill those little bastards. Have to say, I gotta give it to him. . . " the red-haired man paused, widening his eyes in surprise, undoubtedly in sight of me. "Who the hell is that?"_

Making a gesture to his peers, the other men turned their attention out towards me immediately sharing the same stunned expression, one of the mens cigar dropping from their mouth as it went agape. None of them left their spot but one spoke, specifically, the red-haired man.

"Hey fella! That's some seriously high grade armor." he shouted to me, in a curious but obnoxious tone. "Mind telling me where you got a set like that from?"

I narrowed my eyes, rolling them. "Classified information, now go back into your box." I retorted, annoyed.

"You hear him!" exclaimed Warrior, in an assertive and retaliatory tone.

Taken aback, the watchmen exchanged puzzled and stunned expressions unsure of how to respond.

Without any further delay we finally entered the confines of Frontier town and it definitely didn't strike me as a location you'd find in the 24th century. Stepping onto the cobblestone road, I immediately became immersed into a medieval type society, the town bustled with activity- carts ferrying goods, residents and visitors going about their day shopping through the markets or travelers exiting and leaving town. The setting seemed like something straight of folklore or a fantasy work with the populace ranging from your typical commoner to individuals wearing all kinds of strange attire or overly ornate and oddly configured armor as well as possessing oversized swords or axes that no normal human could wield reasonably well, along with other seemingly impractical weapons. Every now and again, I'd spot what at first struck me as human beings but I'd notice they were either of diminutive stature, almost as though suffering some form of dwarfism or appear relatively human with notable ear deformation as in being sharp, long and protrusive-almost like an elf of folklore. Despite the strangeness of the setting it was apparent I was the thing that stuck out the most, as evident by the wide berth we'd be given by the populace, who were clearly both awed as well as frightened by my appearance, many of them beginning to clamor. I could already tell I wasn't going to have a fun time.

"Heh. Guess it's about as bad as I thought." commented Warrior, chuckling nervously, expectant. "Sorry."

"Do you not quest out the open like this, Merc?" asked fighter.

I glanced behind me. "Typically not around large populations." I replied. "Well, not around civilians that is. I prefer to operate out of sight and during the night if I can." I paused. "Usually combat other rival mercenaries, or whatever other wildlife I happen to come across in my field."

"So are there others like you, , Sir?" asked Priestess.

"With similar types of weapons and armor? Yes." I answered. "But exactly like me? Not quite. I'm a breed of my own."

"What exactly did you do in your field?" asked Wizard girl. "You don't seem like the glory-seeking type and you mentioned you don't work for money. Do you have some kind of personal mission? Are you in search of someone or an object?"

I look to her, contemplative. "I guess in a manner of speaking." I replied. "But not for some bullshit righteous cause or any personal vendetta. What I mostly seek out however is materialistic in nature, though there more-abstract things that tempt my curiosity. Guess I'm a bit adventurous at heart."

"Oh, I see. So what is it you seek then?"

"Technology. My weapons, armor, and equipment. Tech." I answered. "Anything electro-mechanical in nature and design, most particularly advanced in function. I collect tech to augment physicality as well as increase the chance of success on my missions."

"Tech huh? Guessing your gear isn't something that is easily obtained or crafted." said Warrior. "Only ever saw swords or axes and bows-nothing like you have."

"Alright. Enough talk, where's the Guild?" I asked, more sternly.

"Oh, uh, it's on the other side of town." he replied. "Through the town square."

I nodded. "Right"

While we made our way through the town, up above the drone continued to process a map: it highlighted and traced the buildings and their respective positions as well as the spacing between them, separating the layout into four different quadrants. At the same time I did this I scanned various parts of the town, tagging 50 members of the populace and separating them into grid squares, repeating the process several dozens of times until I accumulated the total average population count- approximately 2500. A while then, I set a marker in the general area where I suspected the guild building to be located, setting a map route through the drone.

Our progress appeared to moderate as the town's populace seemed to adjust to my presence, at least for the most part-there were still the occasional curious whispers and clamoring. We continued to make our way through the streets, mostly progressing unhindered as the residents gave us leeway as we passed through the crowds. From our current point, according to the UAV, we'd be making a series of lefts and rights through the south-west quadrant proceeding straight through the town square and then partially into the North-west quadrant- approximately 4.5 kilometers from our position. At our rate we'd reach our destination in a little less than an hour, 40 to 55 minutes depending on any delays or not-today seemed like a particularly busy day. The town's atmosphere was abuzz, becoming more substantial the deeper in we went- all around merchants would call out, advertising their goods and merchandise with sales pitches, either personally or through some paid employee.

"_Batches of oranges, apples, and other assortments of raw vegetables for 15 copper coins! Buy two, get one half off!"_

"_Exotic cloths and decor from far off lands. Prices starting from 5 silver coins and up! Guaranteed authenticity!"_

"_Fancy attire for those special occasions! Great prices, high-quality fibers!"_

I would continue about my way, hearing the non stop calling and sales pitches, avoiding eye and ignoring any of the merchants that might have called out to me. For a time, I managed to steer from them without much interaction, my appearance and towering figure usually sufficient in keeping them at bay. My eyes were drawn to a short man with brown bowl-cut hair, who moved about attempting to get people's attention as he promoted whatever he or his employer was selling.

"_Yearning for an exciting adventure? Intent on making a name for yourself?" he called out, in a rhetorical manner, looking for potential customers. "No great adventurer quests without the most important thing- his gear! A great mind requires an equally sufficient weapon! And our weaponsmith crafts only the finest assortment!"_

As he yammered on, I'd keep my sight directed forward, glancing intermittently to watch what he'd do. Seemingly occupying the attention of some young individuals, I headed for a particularly dense crowd figuring he was distant and busy enough not to bother me. Shortly after, I could make out footsteps distinct from the crowds, quickening in rate; I noticed one of the blips on the motion sensor moving against the traffic flow as if heading specifically for my position. Turning my head slightly to glance behind me, I quickly made out the short man in the sand-colored tunic and trousers following in foot. I rolled my eyes and growled in vexation.

"_Merc, I think that Merchant crier is following us." _whispered Warrior in an advisory tone. "_Think he sees you as a potential customer_."

"_I have an eye on him. I have no use for what he's selling." _I whispered back. "_My gear is vastly superior to any of those outdated weapons."_

Continuing on our way, the Merchant crier had closed the distance on us and was now directly behind. "Ah you there good sir? I have never seen such a fellow with your assortment before." he says, awe and intrigue apparent in his voice. "You must be quite the adventurer to have obtained a set such as that! So in that case you must be quite well off! I believe I have arms that may interest you." he says setting up his sales pitch. "A large, robust fellow such as yourself must possess great strength and armor. So why not compliment that strength with a weapon of your caliber? I have many types of Great swords and Axes! Maybe even a mace or spear? Some of my assortment are enchanted as well!" he continues to advertise, as he keeps pace and occasionally moves ahead. He proves to be persistent like all salesmen even when I pretend like he doesn't exist.

My patience growing thin, he continues to keep along with us, pestering us (specifically me) with his aggressive advertising. Having enough of his irritating constant sales pitches, as he made his way ahead of us, I clasped his head and in one quick motion pushed him aside. There are some brief gasps from my party and some the crowd as the salesmen gets thrusted into one the market stands, his momentum carrying him over the counter followed by a faint crunch and squelching as he smashes into some crates of fruit. The crowd visibly concerned, I detected his blip and his vitals were still being picked up on my sensors. Fortunately for him, I barely used any of my strength and only intended to get him out of hair.

"_My, is he okay? Such force."_

"_What incredible strength."_

"_That salesmen had it coming; he pestered that big, armored fellow."_

As parts of the crowd would whisper and clamor, as did my group, though mostly out of amusement rather than questioning the nature of my decision.

"Heh, that guy was definitely a pain-wonder if he actually got hurt?" questioned Warrior.

"That was rather-forceful." commented Priestess.

"He'll live. If I wanted him dead; I'd have just shot him." I retorted, speaking semi-jokingly.

"He was a nuisance anyway. Good riddance." stated Wizard Girl, apathetic.

From that point on I remained relatively unbothered with the message expressed very clearly. We continued our way through Frontier town, the town square was not too far off at this point, maybe another 3 or 4 blocks ahead-all the while I'd only notice how off things were with this town. Nothing about this place gave the impression of a colony you'd find in the 24 century, completely the opposite, like a society stuck in time and its civilization regressed, everything antiqual and outdated- the attire, the culture, the function of living, and most notably-the technology, or lack thereof. There was a certain uncanniness about the atmosphere and antiquity-I found it difficult to bring myself to a conclusion.

Past memories of my service in ICAS intermittently recurred the more I immersed myself in the town's setting; my earlier years when I'd operate amongst the colonial populations, though even then I worked within the shadows-I always felt out of place. As I reminisce of old times, I look about, my head on a swivel as I dot my eyes around the setting; I find myself being drawn to my 2 O'clock, specifically, to a hooded individual wearing a weathered cloak. My attention not directly on them, I glance at the individual, their back towards me as I observe them conversing with the stall clerk, likely negotiating a price for whatever goods they were selling. Watching carefully, I see the merchant briefly leave sight, presumably, to fetch whatever purchased merchandise-a few moments later, he returns with the item. With the purchase seemingly finalized, the two shake hands and the hooden individual begins to part. The questionable individual briefly turns his head around, revealing themself to be a male and as if making eye contact and aware of suspicion, quickly departs before disappearing amongst the crowd. I turned my attention back to the merchant of which dotted his sight about visibly nervous and almost paranoid before closing his stand in a conspicuous manner.

"Hmm. Something insidious about those two." I muttered, narrowing my eyes in suspicion. "That hooded man seemed particularly conspicuous. What's he hiding?"

Losing him from my perspective, I changed to that of the UAVs camera view attempting to locate the individual. Magnifying view, I start from the last known position panning the camera along towards the south where I suspected he was heading. I directed the camera over, methodically scanning multiple people for their physical characteristics while manually searching for him in the crowd. Some time passes thus far scanning almost 300 people, several outfitted with similar looking cloaks it would begin to seem I've lost any trace of him. Considering breaking off, I soon catch someone suddenly split from the crowd and veer into one of the alleyways. Appearing to wear a cloak identical to that of the suspected individual, I tracked them, tagging and framing them within a square reticule as I watched their movement to what I presumed was toward the black cellar door. They'd stop soon later, appearing to look around them to see if they were being followed; thinking the area was clear, the individual creeps towards the cellar door and proceeds to open it. As they look both ways one more time and are in the midst of closing the door, I scan their face the brief moment it's exposed and snap dozens of images of various facial angles. Analyzing the images and other collected data, it would appear I found the individual in question- a man with a clean shaven face, visible strands of brown hair dangling from his head, appeared to be in his early to mid 40s, ectomorph build and approximately 180cm in height. There was also a notable tiredness in his visage, his sunken facial features indicating a disrupted sleeping pattern and likelihood with sleep difficulty-clearly linked to some kind of weariness in part of the nature of what he was preoccupied with. Made me wonder if there was a possible connection between this individual and the obscenities found in the shed- ergo the murders.

I zoomed the UAVs camera view outward a few times, still maintaining an overview of the general town block which I labeled as section B-8. I marked the building, or house, the cellar was likely to be connected with then proceeded to apply a line graphic connecting the marker point and my own position point, measuring the distance between. It was about 1400 meters from my position directly to the marked building; 1700 meters with regards to the road layout and the route taken through them. The house in question was located in the eastern quadrant, approximately 500 meters from the border and near the outskirts of town. There was something to suspect that this area had some degree of significance, though, whether or not the individual was the owner or the building even had any actual relevance was still up in the air. Still, the interaction between the hooded man and the merchant was reason enough to extrapolate underlying insidious activity-or maybe I was misinterpreting a possibly mundane exchange and simply being overly speculative. At least for now, there didn't seem to be any indication that this town had a problem as such-I had to assume a murderer like that sort would operate in more than one location. Investigating this would be an objective for another day.

We weren't far from the town square, maybe another 100 or so meters; I did my regular swivel of the surroundings and of the crowds we were immersed in, briefly catching sight of that salmon haired woman I saw earlier. She had her back turned, speaking with a merchant; she finished whatever business she had, turning around, seemingly catching sight of me. It seemed her sight was affixed, presumably, in a combination of confound intrigue and awe, she soon broke her attention away and set off to her carriage. Gone from view, I kept a slight glance in the general direction; I wasn't sure but there was something about her even despite a lack of anything being particularly noteworthy about her. Some kind of intuition.

"Do any of you kids know anything about that woman?" I inquired. "Salmon-reddish hair wearing the overalls. Saw her earlier on our way to the town. She was riding on the carriage."

"Nope. I've only seen her a few times." replied Warrior, dully.

"Nothing noteworthy." says Wizard girl, bluntly.

"I offer no valuable information-unfortunately." stated Priestess.

"There's nothing particularly personal I know." says Fighter, her tone suggesting she has something to offer. "I do know her uncle owns a farm. My father has met him a few times during some of his training trips; he and her would frequent to towns to deliver goods- usually meat from their livestock. She also tends to the farm and is quite hardy as a result. Their farm isn't too far from my home."

"Oh yea?" I replied, in a half-interested tone. "So a farmer? Barn-tender?"

"Yep. Though I think most just call her Cowgirl." she said. "She and a close friend were orphaned at a young age. Village was attacked, their parents and siblings were killed when goblins raided their home."

"I see." I replied, my voice monotone.

"That's terrible." comments Priestess, pity in her tone.

"Who's this 'close' friend?" I asked, somewhat half-heartedly.

"Not sure."

It would seem this woman- according to Fighter- has a history with goblins and suffered a traumatic event because of it. Both her and this unidentified associate were orphaned at a very young age-I had to assume they would have a close relationship. This gave me the impression that goblins were quite the vermin and possibly a serious matter of concern. Which made me wonder- Why hasn't the military, or even whatever form of police responded yet? Then again I continued to question what kind of government even oversaw the affairs in this society? In truth, I asked myself if all this questioning was meaningless- evidently this world and society was so backward it made the question if it was even real. I had a feeling that there was an underlying aspect I was missing. Sinking into my contemplation, I heard the voices of two females conversing with one another approaching us; I peered ahead seeing two females- one red-headed and the other an unnatural blue. At the range they were out I initially thought they were human but immediately noticed the sharp, long and protruding ears.

"_Such a liberating feeling leaving the highland village after a 1000 years of isolation. It's almost-euphoric." says the short red-haired elf, in a bubbly, enthusiastic manner._

"_I agree! All the sites we'll see. The adventures!" replies the cobalt haired elf, similarly jovial. "Such a lovely town this is. What kind of quest should we take?"_

"_I'm not quite sure. Maybe we should start sma-" _

Immediately halting her speech, the blue-headed elvish woman and her scarlett haired friend stopped in their movement perpendicular from us. I glanced at them, noticing their wide-eyed gaze fixed upon me as we passed by; it was as if I had been the craziest thing they've seen. Admittedly, a similar expression contorted on my face along with some confusion- their appearance if not strange enough, I couldn't help but hear something about a millenia worth lapse of time and wondering if she was referring to time passed in their own life. Struck me as odd considering all the earthly and extraterrestrial I've encountered and studied hadn't possessed such longevity- no sapient or intelligent species that is. It was bizarre to think about even if the females weren't actually odd aesthetically, quite the opposite, they were slender, fair-skinned and rather pleasing in appearance-still couldn't help but ponder over the nature of whatever society they originated. As we continued on ahead, I could hear them spark up another conversation- specifically remarking about my suit, comparing it to that of a knight's armor and, of course, my apparent 'strange' weaponry. I found it mostly amusing but also puzzling.

Approximately five minutes pass as we draw near the town square. Setting foot into what was the center of town, it was evident much of the active population was currently concentrated here as it turned out to be the busiest part of town. Many individuals of different walks of life occupied the town square, some appeared to be not even human almost though belonging to a different race entirely-it would have been an understatement to say I felt like I got thrown into some DnD game. Like much of the rest of the town, there were marketplaces albeit in higher number and concentration; an assortment of market stalls and shops were lined and scattered in a ring along the inside of the square. In the center of town square, a stone statue stood tall, presumably, of the man who likely found and helped build the town. With the crowd being particularly dense, our progress through the town square would prove to be a bit slow, even if most gave me some berth to move, it would be like trying to walk through molasses. Halfway across the square I thought I could make out hints of a development beginning to stir, though I wasn't certain what the origin was but seemed to be coming from my 5 0'clock. Very shortly later something in fact did occur- I directed my attention towards one of the buildings which turned out to be a tavern or bar of sorts, out of which came stumbling a patron, presumably drunk. Appearing to be in his early 40's, the man heavily inebriated whilst holding a large cup of what I presumed to be alcohol, directed his attention back to the tavern visibly upset and proceeded to express his probably unwarranted frustrations. This drew the attention of some of the crowd who quickly turned away indicating that this must have been a regular occurance; regardless, he continued his bout of drunken anger and soon enough the owner, or what I figured was, beckoned his call, equally annoyed and vexed. Both appeared tense, making physical gestures toward one another- the tavern owner points his finger accusingly while angrily shaking his fist; in return, the drunken patron simply stands in place, stuck in a slouched posture as he struggles to remain upright, wobbling about as he thrusted his beverage around likely spilling it as he gestured with it.

"_Time and time again, you come here getting piss drunk." barked the tavern owner expressing his grievance, beginning to walk away as he continued to point his finger. "Had enough of your so-called sob stories. I've tolerated you long enough, no longer; you're a nuisance to me, my employees, and most importantly- the customers. You've become a liability to my business-you're banned from my tavern! And before I forget I want you to pay off your tab! I expect 150 bronze or 5 silver coins by next week!" he barks just before slamming the entrance door._

"_Ah, your-you're nothin but a horse's co.. *Burp* Forget it." he slurs, swiping his hand in a dismissive manner. Withholding any further ranting. "Your ale taste like *Burp* warm piss anyway. G-Good Ri-Riddance anyway." he gulps the remainder of his beverage before throwing the glass into the door in spite causing the cup to shatter._

There is numerous clamoring and murmurs from the crowd, most of which expressed feelings of contempt or disgust. It was evident this chap wasn't thought very highly of and I didn't blame them. I heavily disliked any kind of alcohol beverage but utterly despised drunkards. My group clearly weren't fond of the man either, huffing in condescending disapproval or giving exasperated sighs, aside from Priestess who said nothing or made any sound.

"Damn drunkard. Waste of Oxygen and space." I muttered with contempt.

"Yeah. What a loser." chimed Warrior.

"That guy is drunk most days of the week." informed Fighter, disapproval and annoyance recognizable in her voice. "Always stirs up trouble. Forgets he's not a young man anymore."

"He's a useless fool." comments Wizard girl, her conscendent stated bluntly. "Karma will find him soon and judge accordingly."

"Aren't you guys maybe being a little overly critical and mean?" says Priestess, somewhat nervous, expressing some degree of empathy. "I don't condone his actions but maybe he's just fallen on hard times."

"Don't be empathetic. He's likely had many chances before." I countered. "At this point all that man deserves is a kick in the ass."

She sighed, as though uncertain or in disagreement but seemingly contemplative.

Behind us, I could hear the man acting out on passersby, insulting and vindicating any one that comes across him. I wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish but his antagonistic and aggressive behaviour gave the impression he was deliberately trying to incite a physical altercation. As much of an irritant as he was, it seemed most just simply ignored the pitiful man and considering his stupor, even if he did attempt to get physical he'd probably bumble around until he passed out from exhaustion or hitting his head off something-if he did instigate a fight with one of the physically robust individuals and got his ass kicked I'd have found that amusing. It was my assumption that we could go about our way and the drunken man would just eventually pass out or get served his own medicine-however it seemed that wouldn't be the case. When I thought I would be able to pass through the town square without interruption, I quickly made out a blip moving- albeit, at crawling pace-in my direction. I couldn't immediately tell because of the obstruction of the dense crowd but I soon spotted the man inching towards me, stumbling and falling all the way. I wasn't hundred percent he was heading directly at me but I had a very strong suspicion he had been. Much of the clamor and murmurs immediately reinforced that notion and his position on the motion sensor showed there was less than 10 meters between us.

"_What does the idiotic man think he's doing?" says a young woman, sounding both appalled and degrading. _

"_What does that drunkard plan on accomplishing? He clearly has a deathwish." commented a younger man, snarkily. _

Hearing slow footsteps behind me and then a thump, I glanced over my shoulder to find the inebriated gentlemen facing flat on the ground, not more than 15 feet. I heard him mumble garble but otherwise paid little attention; I shook my head and rolled my eyes and continued to go about my way.

"H-hey you in the *burp* b-black armor. Y-you look tough." he slurs, speaking in alcohol induced bravado. "How 'bout I make you my punching *Burp* bag?"

_Is this drunken dolt seriously trying to instigate a fight with me? That liquid courage of his going to lead him doing a road of shattered bones and liquefied insides. He better press on, otherwise he'll wake up in a pool of his own blood and life-altering brain damage. _I thought to myself.

"Leave us be, ya smelly old drunk." said Warrior, his tone annoyed with notable humor in his voice.

"This is the fifth time you've drunk this week." stated Fighter, in a scolding tone. "Just go home, you're being a nuisance."

"He smells terrible, reeks of vomit and urine." complained Wizard girl. "It assaults my nasal passages. Go away you drunk cretin."

"Ignore him." I said, glancing back. "The fool will probably stumble around until he knocks himself out in his drunken stupor."

Suddenly, I heard Priestess let out a startled gasp. Turning my head around, I see the end of her dress being clutched tightly in hand by the man while he still lies. He uses her as a leverage point as he attempts to push himself up-Poor Priestess was clearly uncomfortable, clutching her staff nervously.

"Um-Sir? Can you please let go of my robe?" she asked, uneasy, but trying to retain a composed demeanor. "Y-you're dirtying the cloth."

"Shut your mouth, missy *Burp* What're ya brats doing with him huh?" he said, his voice heavily slurred. "What's he supposed to be anyway? *Burp* A knight or something?"

"Hey get your grimy hands off her!" barked Warrior.

"You've had your warning. Take off your hands!" Fighter demanded, sounding calm but in a clear authoritative tone. "I won't hesitate to use my martial arts skills to pound into you."

"Sir, please, let go of me. Before this matter escalates." pleaded Priestess.

I narrowed my eyes, vexation rising as I watched the event take place. Each time he pulled on her, he would shift her body up to a point where she lost her balance and nearly fell, Wizard girl fortunately catching her before she did. Witnessing this, I reached a boiling point, compelled by ire, I stormed from my lead position towards the intoxicated man, disgusted by his rampant drunkenness and his lack of consideration for a young teen's space. As he got onto a knee and was in the process of propping himself, I quickly grabbed hold of his neck and forcibly lifted him high off of the cobblestone road. I heard the shocked gasps let out from the bystanders, frightened by my evident display of physical strength, though I mostly blocked them out and focused on the vermin before me. I paint a killer stare as I grip his neck tightly, slowly applying more pressure as he futilely struggles to himself.

"L-let me d-down you big metal *cough* son of a bitch." he said in a gruff voice, partly raspy from the compression on his neck, fear notable in his tone. "I d-didn't her, I didn't hurt anybody; I didn't mean anything by it. Just being rambunctious is all."

"Enough of your drunken dribble, you're a pitiful nuisance." I said in a demeaning tone, uninterested in any meaningless explanation the man had. "You used your filthy hands to invade a girl's personal space. Anything you say means nothing, I could crush your windpipe with ease and your death would mean just that- nothing. Why shouldn't I do so?" I say in a low, intimidating voice. My gaze doesn't leave his face, one of a man with graying, sand colored hair ruffled messily under a ragged hood, his skin wrinkled, pasty white and dusted with grime and a large protusive nose. Staring into his faint blue orbs, I noted the ignorance of one's own misdoing and an unwarranted sense of innocence; it made me sick, my eyes narrowed further and my expression contorted into disdain and abhorrence. I continued to grip harder, beginning to hear a slight crunch as I compress against bone, the sound of his heaving from the difficulty of breathing, almost cathartic. I could very easily decapitate him, crushing his bones into powder and compressing tissue into juice-any more pressure would be fatal.

"Ah-agh. . .my n-neck you're crushing. . .it." wheezed the drunk, barely able to let out a sentence, clearly in a suffering state. "P-please. . .I can't b-breathe. . .I'll s-stop."

I ignored him, simply continuing to clutch with the intent of slowly choking the life out of him. Quickly his eyes began to redden as well as his face which flushed from scarlet to white and then to a light shade of blue as asphyxiation started to take hold. His already weak and insignificant grip barely noticeable, rapidly faded and his hold loosening. Initially blocked out, I heard an encore of gasps and murmurs, both fearful and shocked but none of anyone directly willing to intervene; I soon then sense the very subtle vibration sent through my body and hear a soft, mousy voice-almost pleading. Turning around I see Priestess clutching me, a hold on my waist and leg, trying vigorously to shake me with the minimal physical output she was able to attempt to draw my attention. Her face was reddened, presumably after a bout of crying, her blue eyes glistening with tears.

"P-please Merc, you're choking him to death. Stop!" implored Priestess. "Let him go. He doesn't deserve to die. Please."

From her I diverted my attention to the rest of the group, who were all wide-eyed, appalled and horrified at my display of cold, unfeeling, brutality. My sight then drifted to the crowd who had much the same expression; I soon returned my sight back unto the drunk who was just on cusp of bodily shutdown as oxygen was ceasing to flow into his brain. I gaze deeply into his eyes, ruthless anger gradually faded into disinterest, prying of one another's conscience ultimately convincing me to cease.

I sighed in discontent. "Just this once. Her mercy, not mine." I muttered, coldly. "You live for now."

Thrusting my arm upward slightly, I loosen my grip on him, the small amount of momentum carrying his body forward a short distance before he impacts the ground causing a faint thud. A series of relieved sighs and murmurs from my group and the crowd followed as I refrained from public execution. Lying on the ground, weak and nearly limp, the drunk soon had his original color return back into his face, clasping his neck in response to the inflicted pain, otherwise he was alive.

"Let this be a lesson. Get yourself rehabilitated, or find yourself dead." I uttered in a grave tone, turning my back towards him and heading back ahead of the group, motioning them to move on. "Let's proceed onward."

Without further words, we went off, I could still feel stares of shock and fear bore into me but otherwise treated it as if nothing happened. Moving some distance, I glanced slightly over my shoulder, behind me, seeing the man still lying on the ground, now on his side and vomiting profusely; probably in combination with his ordeal and the upset state of his stomach. Some members of the crowd appeared to approach him, much of the masses remained distant, however, gradually returning to their previous routine-it was evident most didn't actually care much for the man. The teens had demonstrated zero fondness for him, as per their exchanges, though, much like the bystanders, couldn't help but find my brutality, jarring-I knew they looked up to me as an authority figure but could also tell a modicum of fear was present.

Having left the town square, we started our way down the last street before the guild building. Much of the hustle from earlier returned to normal, many of the bystanders either turning a blind eye from the incident or mostly simply unaware of what previously occurred-my group, the teens themselves were silent, likely contemplative, digesting the prior incident. Particularly, Priestess appeared to be the most visibly distraught, her tender nature very easily disturbed. Unsurprising as usual.

"I'm getting the sense you are uneasy, unnerved?." I said, monotone, partly apathetic. "Don't be. Call the action extreme but it was necessary. His inebriated state made simple words useless. Had to send a message through physical means. That's it, nothing else."

"Oh yea, the guy was definitely scum and he deserved it." said Warrior, sounding as if he was in agreeance though notably uncomfortable. "Pretty intense. You really mean business."

"I wouldn't have minded pounding him black and blue." says Fighter in a serious voice. "He might have been drunk but he shouldn't have grabbed hold of the Priestess like he did." her tone gradually waned. "But seeing him right on the cusp of death like that-he doesn't deserve sympathy though it was a scary sight. You, being able to pick him up and kill him so easily."

"No one would have missed that fool anyway. Waste of space." said Wizard girl, bluntly, surprisingly callous in her tone.

"Wow. That's pretty cold." uttered Warrior,in a shocked tone. "Didn't think you could be callous like that."

"Can't say I really feel any compassion towards him either." says Fighter, her tone more neutral and apathetic. "Merc was simply trying to protect Priestess. So who knows what he might have tried; he wasn't in the right mind and could have hurt her. Maybe that will give him a wake up call."

"You're all right. What he did was wrong." admits Priestess. "He shouldn't have clutched my dress in such an aggressive manner as he did-but he was a man down on his luck, an outcast, someone suffering from personal troubles. Regardless of misdeed, the teachings of the Earth mother are meant to help nurture life not-destroy it." she says, her voice slowly fading, evidently conflicted and bothered in her thoughts. "I do appreciate you looking out for me-Merc. Thank you."

"Of course." I replied plainly. "Let me know when we're close to the guild building." I told the group.

"We're getting close actually." answered Warrior. "There's a haberdashery straight across from it. We're maybe a 10 minutes walk away. It's a fairly plain looking building.."

"Good. Hopefully there are no more unwanted delays." I said, my tone slightly exasperated.

With the short distance left to travel, my mind would drift for a bit, a small amount of introspection creeping in. I briefly thought back to that moment I clutched the life of that man in my hands, feeling what I thought was abhorrence or hatred. Furthermore, I would continue to be reminded of my past; I'd only glance around at the populace I was immersed in and still pick up the subtle aspects about civilized society that would pry at me despite my numbness to it. For that short instance, I felt that vague sensation, I could feel as though I was in the body of my earlier self. The distant sense of my genesis days in the cold, filth of the manger to a life of training as a FEW program graduate then as an immediate spec ops candidate, my late teens and early adulthood consisted mostly of 3 things- Training, Sleep and Conflict- Proxy wars to be precise. From the wealthy, urban, tech-topias of Halcyon and Talos to beyond colonial boundaries to the sparsely infrastructured outer worlds- much of my existence was dedicated to patrolling varieties of landscapes and cities as well as occasionally fighting in them. Aside from the standard military lingo and crucial communication during operations, I rarely associated with my peers or superior officers; I wasn't disliked or an outcast, I simply had zero drive or reason to talk to anyone if not professionally-I was always emotionally and inevitably socially distant, especially towards the populace which we were supposed to protect. Most of the time I was content with simply taking up an assignment, preferably when an armed engagement was likely to occur-I was perfectly happy blowing up rampant mercenaries and insurrectionists. Whether I was actually achieving any good I honestly couldn't give a shit-I guess my only true goal was to keep myself busy and saving lives wasn't something I contemplated much. Looking around at the populace I was currently immersed, I felt uncomfortable but otherwise ultimately had felt just that-nothing. Or at least I thought. Following a very short lapse of time, my train of thought was broken from a pinging; a message box popped up on the HUD, notifying me that I had entered into the marked area and that I reached the marker point.

"Hey Merc, we're nearly there." informed Warrior, speaking directly to me. "It's the fourth building on the left side, down ahead." he finished, pointing in its direction.

"Understood." I replied, nodding slightly in acknowledgement.

After walking some several dozen paces down the road, we came to a large intersection. Of the buildings sitting on the blocks framing the road, my sight was initially drawn to the one on my immediate right flank- there placed on the upper portion of the frontside of the building was a sign that read "Haberdashery". Turning my attention to the opposite flank, my sight was directed to what I assumed was the designated building- the Adventurer's guild. It's overall design wasn't very much different from the others I've seen; it was fairly plain looking as Warrior said, a white building comprising mostly of wood and stone with a large single glass pane and a three level porch extending outward.

"This is the building correct?" I asked.

"Yep. This is it." replied Warrior.

Heading towards the building, we stopped just before the large wooden door. I wasn't sure but I felt a sudden flash of reluctance; I briefly glanced behind me, noticing the confused and slightly concerned looks contorting on the teens faces. Casting that sensation aside, I temporarily latched my ARM-11 onto my back and placed my hands onto the surface of the door; I figured it wasn't necessary to readly carry my weapon into the interior of the building for obvious reasons. The doors creaked as I pushed them open, briefly holding in place as I let the rest of the group pass by, slowly closing the doors behind and fully entering. Inside, the architecture was simple much like the outside consisting of a large mostly open room with tall oak walls held up by the numerous rafters positioned in points around the room and the ceiling above. Flaming lamps lined around the room provided light for the interior, especially within darker portions of the building. In the far back looked to be a balcony and a set of stairs leading to what appeared to be a second floor of sorts with a large assortment of tables set on the ground level, at least half of them being occupied by individuals who I assumed were other adventurers outfitted with various armor or cloth type outfits. Directly across was the front desk which occupied a small quadrant of space in the foyer; two female office staff stood behind the counter, currently associating with another group of adventurers, much like my own.

As I proceeded to move forward, the wooden floor beneath me creaked underneath the weight and pressure of my heavy armored mass. I could hear a series of gasps being let out, some seemingly exaggerated and the once lively room now deathly silent. Glancing over to my left, I could see I had garnered the attention of the guild's occupants, several of them noteworthy in their appearance- the first gasp I could make out from was of a female, a woman with long blonde hair, wearing luminous white armor and wielding a greatsword seemingly too big for her; her companion then I assumed, was a larger, armored, black-haired male armed with an even bigger, almost ridiculously sized greatsword; further off then, a tall male with strawberry blonde hair donning blue armor stared wide-eyed, clearly the most taken aback.

"Hey-uh Merc? You alright there?" asked Warrior. "You're frozen like a statue. We can go up now."

"I had a bad feeling this was going to happen. Sorry Merc." muttered Fighter, apologizing, sounding both embarrassed and slightly guilty.

"Right. I'm moving." I muttered, feeling a second wave of discomfort and brief reluctance.

Standing still for a moment as I processed the occupants reactions, I decided to ignore them and began to move forward again. My normally quiet footsteps were akin to grenades detonating in the permeating cold silence, despite that I figured to just overlook it and face my attention forward. As the group approached the front desk, Warrior moved slightly ahead, placing his arm on the wooden counter in an uncouth, evident display of confidence and sense of accomplishment.

"Hello there, ladies. We're back from our quest." he said, his tone indicating his attempting to sound cool and smooth.

"Ignore that dingus. But he's right. We've finished our quest." said Fighter. "We've managed to exterminate all of the goblins, the quest detailed, and we saved the girls that were captured." she says then points to me. "Of course we had some serious help."

"Oh I see." says one of the female office workers.

Approaching the desk, I stopped just behind the group staring down the two women behind who shared similar expressions of fear and awe. One had honey blonde hair tied up in ponytail with strangely yellow eyes, the other was brunette with bangs and small protruding tufts of hair and aqua blue eyes; both wore an identical outfit made up of a navy colored vest over a white long-sleeve shirted and a black pencil skirt.

"Um-excuse me, sir? Are you with this group?" asked the blonde haired woman, her tone indicating a small degree of nervousness despite hre mostly composed voice. "They say you-are."

I nodded slightly. "I am-though not initially."

The desk worker and her partner both recoiled slightly in response to my bassy, mechanically modulated voice. Her and her coworker briefly exchanged nervous expressions before each regained their composure, the brunette returned to organizing documents and the blonde returned her attention back to me.

"My apologies, sir." she clears her throat. "Yes, that's true. I don't recall the group having a fifth member. I haven't seen you before."

"He didn't accompany us on the way there." said Warrior.

"We met while we were inside the cave." said Fighter.

"That's where things went downhill." added Priestess, her tone nervous and body contorted in slight discomfort.

The desk worker's eyes widened slightly. "Is that so? What do you mean? What happened?" she asked, sounding both intrigued and concerned.

I stepped forward, gently pushing Warrior and Fighter aside. I stopped directly in front of the counter and stared intently down at the desk worker.

"Activities done prior or reasons for my presence there are confidential." I said, in a stern, professional tone. "That aside. I found myself exploring the system of caves, initially intent on navigating my through and locating an exit. Some point shortly later, I made out voices and footsteps of others present inside the cave; I quickly pinpointed the source and came across the travellers. I hadn't expected to discover teenagers armed with swords and other strange equipment but that aside; they seemed to be holding their own but despite their commendable efforts they would have been overwhelmed by the horde of green-skinned creatures: Goblins so to speak." I informed the desk worker girl, though to be frank, I did tweak a few details to make them look better and not have their situation appear completely hopeless. "Deciding to intervene, I utilized my superior weaponry and equipment to assist them in wiping out the remaining creatures. My nigh indestructible armor and particle barrier ment I didn't have to worry about them actually harming me."

"Oh, I see, you aided them afterward." she says in a confirming tone, almost interested.

"Yes. After I was told they were adventurers, I took up the leadership role." I replied, nodding. "Acknowledging the possible danger these goblin creatures could pose, I provided guidance and direction to the group as we moved further through the caves. Eventually we made our way to the nest, taking a few precautions, we stormed the large cavern and managed to exterminate the remainder of the goblins inside, along with a hobgoblin and the leader. Including the offspring hidden behind a small wooden door."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Offspring? Oh my-so you killed everything inside the cave?" she asked, sounding slightly shocked before regaining composure. "How many did you encounter if I may ask?"

"On our initial encounter, we killed 15." I said, informing in her professional manner, continuing on. "In our next encounter, midway through the cave system, I personally killed 6, either with my combat knife or my boots. Proceeding into the main cavern, we cleared out the last form of resistance- 12 goblins, I personally killed the hobgoblin and the leader which wore strange withered attire and wielded a staff of sorts. There were four goblin offspring or 'babies' so to speak. I torched them." I said, speaking nonchalantly. "35 confirmed KIA."

"Wow. That sounds like an awfully large nest." she said, gasping slightly, sounding legitimately surprised and impressed. "I'm glad that you all were successful in your quest."

"Yeah! We kicked butt, Merc was an absolute beast!" said Warrior, in a slightly raised tone, notably giddy. "You manhandled that hobgoblin! "

Fighter shot him an amused look."He's right. Merc is being modest." she said, turning back to me and giving me a prideful smile. "He's one hell of a warrior and leader. His leadership and guidance helped us to be more effective fighters. If it weren't for him, we definitely would have died." she says briefly shivering in disgust. "Or worse."

Wizard girl shot me a smirk. "Indeed. His physical capabilities are beyond exceptional, almost inhuman." she says pushing up her glasses at the end of her statement. "The success of our quest was almost entirely thanks to him. He is a phenomenal leader, allowing us to properly utilize our skill sets and coordinate as a cohesive unit."

"He saved our lives." added Priestess, giving me a thankful smile.

Hearing their generous statements gave me a healthy amount of surprise. It was evident I did the vast majority of the legwork, but something about them freely stating it gave me an odd sensation; I mostly didn't feel much emotion and I knew I'd soon depart from them I couldn't help but feel a small degree of satisfaction and-warmth. I looked around at my soon to be former team, contemplative. While I preferred to operate solo, the experience wasn't unpleasant by any means-just inconvenient and unconventional-for me at least.

The guild girl gave a warm smile. "Well, as I've said before I'm glad you all were successful." she said in a friendly tone. "Now, do you happen to have your quest sheet on you? I require that to verify the quest you took was completed."

"Oh-yeah, right. Let me-" he replied, rummaging through a small pouch hooked to his pants, pulling out a folded piece of paper. "Here it is." he finished, handing the form over to the blonde haired woman.

Unfolding the piece of paper, she spent a moment skimming over whatever information was written before grabbing a feather pen. She dipped it in what looked to be a cup of ink, she opened up a massive book that sat on the counter next to her and proceeded to jot information in regards to the details and conformation of the quest. Briefly referring to the sheet one more time, she sets the paper aside and then proceeds to reach for what I assumed was a cabinet. Beginning to hear a jingle, she clutched a large sac of what I assumed to be filled with metallic coins. Another jingle and clank was made as it contacted the surface of the counter identifying it as the reward.

"Here is your reward for completion of the quest." she informed, contorting a warm, friendly smile. "Five gold coins and ten sliver coins."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised and confused that the reward contained such rare and valuable metals, especially offered in notable quantity and for killing admittedly measly creatures. Such metals must be large in quantity and inventory to be distributed so available; these gold and silver coins were larger than half dollar coins. Must have been tens of thousands credits worth of metal there. Back in the colonies, the governments and military wouldn't have thought for a second to dish them out like that. Not surprising to see the group being excited over the amount, they were practically salivating like hungry dogs.

"Now, you already told me a good bit of your quest." she stated, implying there was another thing she needed. "As per regulations of the guild, a report is typically required, nothing too much, just a short summary of notable events. Of course other details about the quest or with regards to anything in the area is also appreciated."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "Sounds reasonable. I'll write down what's necessary."

She nodded and then proceeded to hand me the feather quill pen, pushing the cup of ink towards me. Handing me a sheet of categories to fill, I gently dipped the quill pen into the ink and proceeded to jot down information in the blank spaces, making sure to exercise discretion what I put using only relevant or notable info. I reiterated and detailed our progress through the caves, as well as the encounters and the manners in which the goblins were dispatched. Next I detailed our travel from the cave through the forest and eventually our arrival before the town. I neglected the encounter with the bear deeming it irrelevant and too brief to be accounted for though I did give some details regarding our incursion with the bandit ambush-and most controversially the shed belonging to a possible cannibalistic murder. Of course I didn't mention anything about the presence of WarCorp PMC seeing as that would up a can of worms that didn't feel like dealing with. Finished then, I reorientated the paper for her to grab and give her back the quill and ink cup.

Smiling warmfully, she grabbed hold of the paper. "Thank you very much sir. You may take your reward." she said, gesturing to the burlap sack. "Oh wait-excuse me sir but I don't think you're a member of this guild. Though I can clearly see you're an adventurer of some kind, though I'm not sure of your actual occupation."

I raised my eyebrow in realization. "I'm a mercenary, freelance." I replied, somewhat annoyed that I'd have to go through another process. "And no I'm not affiliated with this guild. What of it?"

Her eyes widened and she proceeded to wave her hands in a nervous manner. "Oh I understand! I'm not saying you can't take the reward." she frantically apologized before regaining her composure. "I can see you're someone of high status. I feel obligated to ask if you would like to join the adventurer's guild."

"Why would I want to do that? What would being part of a guild offer me?" I asked, feeling reluctant for personal reasons, also admittedly disinterested.

Her face contorted into puzzlement, seemingly stumped. "Well, um-I mean the guild offers all types of quests and is decent means for income flow, especially the higher ranked quests." she informed, initially sounding like she was trying to win me over through lucrative advertisement, but disguised what she actually felt. She sighed. "You see, most travellers that pass through this guild yearn for adventure but they also seek profit. Many porcelain ranked adventurers are put off by the mundanity of the tasks or simply finding not lucrative enough; many then either quit or underestimate the possible dangers of the quest-goblins are a dire example, causing the deaths of many careless adventurers." she paused. "So someone of your caliber would be a prime candidate for some real change. An individual with your skillset and equipment would undoubtedly be an invaluable asset I'm sure."

Seeing the imploring, almost pleading expression on her face, I briefly turned to the teens who shared a similar look in their eyes, evidently wanting me to do the same thing. Gazing at them contemplatively, I turned back to the guild girl doing much the same; I spent a moment to think before coming to a decision. I only intended on bringing the kids back to collect their reward, though despite strong sense to maintain distant connections or affiliation, it would seem my consciousness was getting the better of me. Pretty clear this becoming a problem though I might be able to make use of this, still know little about this world.

I sighed in exasperation. "Fine. You reeled me in." I muttered, turning back towards the front desk. "What exactly do you need me to do?"

She widened her eyes, surprised I actually accepted. "Oh, um-Yes, of course!" she said, wincing at her stutter as she reached underneath the desk. She got hold of another form and handed it to me. "Here you go, just fill in the areas when prompted." she finished, giving another warm smile.

"Right." I muttered, unenthusiastically.

Narrowing my eyes as I skimmed the official form for a moment, I clutched the quill pen and proceeded to fill in the request categories, albeit simplifying some pieces of info or outright omitting anything I deemed too personnel or classified. Filling much of the spaces with little issue, my momentum slowed a bit when I came to the name section. I was already aware of the strange lack of names, but became more confused when I saw that absent from the form instead asking for my occupational title as opposed to my name. I mean I had no intention of providing my actual name however the fact the option wasn't available anyway was undeniably bizarre and almost uncanny. Just based on what I've seen so far this society's rules are far removed from the 24th century civilization I'm used to. Regardless, I decided to just go with it and placed down the closest thing to what I'd call my occupation- mercenary, even though it was a little more complicated than that. I quickly finished filling in the rest of the form, reorienting the paper and pushing towards the desk worker.

She blinked, seemingly surprised by the rate of completion. Proceeding to lift the form, she narrowed her eyes in concentration as she started to skim through, reading the information carefully. After a period of silence, she gave a satisfied 'hm' and nodded, reaching below the counter again to get something. She had hold of what appeared to be a dog-tag like necklace, of what looked to be a piece of porcelain tied through with string.

"Here's your adventurer's tag!" she said, smiling, holding the necklace out for me. "The material on the necklace indicates what rank you are. Since your new member and just beginning, you'll start out as the lowest rank, which is porcelain.`` She then pointed to a board with a large number of papers pinned to it. "Since you're porcelain, you can only take up quests suited to your rank. Of course, higher ranked adventurers can partake in lower ranked ones, but aside from that, you'll need to be in a party with appropriately ranked an adventurer, otherwise you'll be unable to go any higher."

Feeling somewhat reluctant, I grabbed the necklace. "Is that so?." I muttered, the tag jangling as I examined it, reading the inscription. "How many ranks are there? And what's required for promotion?"

Giving me an expectant look, she continued on. "Oh yes, of course, I was getting to that." she said, beginning to explain. "There are currently 10 established ranks in the guild- _Porcelain, Obsidian, Steel, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Bronze, Silver, Gold and then Platinum."_

"That's a fair amount of ranks." I commented, somewhat taken aback. "What do these quests entail? What can I expect?"

"The nature and danger of each quest varies." she explains. "They include but are not limited monster subjugation, personal escort, and investigation. There are more mundane tasks but those are usually fairy infrequent."

"In terms of promotion? What's required? Other than proven capability." I asked, mostly to humor her, I was admittedly mostly disinterested, fiddling with the tag.

"A promotion is normally given after an interview." she replied. "Provided it's requested by the adventurer and a set of criteria is fulfilled and your case is thoroughly agreed upon. Once that is set and done, the individual will be promoted and given a new tag to represent their elevated rank." she says, then gesturing to her co worker, who nervously waved back. "You can request one with either me or the inspector whenever you feel ready."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "What if I happen to come across a scenario that ends up being a quest that's for a rank above my own?" I asked, somewhat curious. "And I happen to complete it? And I have others to vouch for the deed? Say I kill a particularly strong creature or escort someone to safety."

She cocked her head, then widened her eyes with an unexpected look. "Oh that's a good question!" she said, sounding surprised. "If you give a detailed account of the creature and scenario as well as vouching from eye witnesses then the reward can be given. However, by technicality, according to the rules and regulations of the guild, you wouldn't be promoted until after being given a proper interview." she explained. "Anymore questions?"

For a moment I remained there, contemplating. To say I wasn't exactly ecstatic would be an understatement, I understood the process was necessary to prevent adventurers from taking up quests above their current abilities and thus leading to less fatalities. Regardless, I wasn't enthusiastic about needing to go through the hoops in order to progress, especially considering my skill set and weaponry, not to mention my long list of accomplishments and experience. Despite the clear inconvenience, I wasn't too broken up about it and if I was going to be frank I probably wouldn't be going too into depth with this 'guild' system anyway. I wanted to set off on my own again as soon as possible.

I shook my head. "No. You've answered all the necessary questions." I replied, politely. I narrowed my eyes in confusion as I watched what she was about to do.

She nodded in acknowledgement. "Of course." she then proceeded to straighten her back, clasping her hands in a preparatory manner before flashing me a big, bright smile. "Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild, !" she exclaims in a celebratory tone. A series of cheers follow from the teens behind me and from some members of the guild's current occupants, raising large cups of what I assumed was alcohol. Suffice it to say I wasn't a fan of the sudden burst of energy and attention.

I sighed, exasperated and slightly uncomfortable."_Jeez. Is that necessary?" _I muttered, uneuthestic. "Anyway, I'm going back to give these coins to my team-well soon to be my former team."

Turning around, I spent a brief moment inspecting the necklace clutched in my left hand again; I chuckled in slight amusement and uncertainty, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Deciding to humor myself, I worked the necklace around until I was able to fit my admittedly large helmet through it, letting it lay in place within the space of my neck guard and around my neck. "_Heh. spiffy." _I muttered, sarcastically, looking at the trinket with some degree of amusement. "_Now where'd those damn kids go?_" I muttered, looking around noticing the teens weren't near the entrance or quest board anymore. Directing my sight toward the lounging area, I quickly spotted them, they were seated at one of the unoccupied tables, one of the closest to my 4 O'clock. Appearing to be conversating, one of them catches sight of me, leading the rest of the group to wave back to me, gesturing for me to come over. "_There they are." _I chuckled softly, starting to walk my way over. Making my way over, it seemed a majority of the guild's occupants became accustomed to my presence communing as normal, though a select few appeared to maintain a watchful eye, particularly the armored individuals I saw earlier; specifically, the female knight and her companion didn't directly set their attention on me though I could pick up on their subtle facial and bodily movements indicating they were likely conversing about me; the other lad, in blue armor, was much less subtle and it was fairly evident, he might've felt threatened by me. Whether or not they meant any ill intent remained to be seen, in any case, my armor and weaponry were vastly superior to what they possessed, so I doubted they'd actually be a threat.

"Hey Merc over here! We saved your spot." stated Warrior, gesturing with his hand, patting a spot between him and Priestess.

"I see that." I replied, taking a brief glance towards the crowd, specifically, towards the individuals of note. Seeing them mostly preoccupied, I humor Warrior and accept his offer, walking around the table and proceeding to take a seat-a split second of hesitance hit me when I contemplated whether or not the wooden seat would hold my weight. Carefully lowering myself and making contact, the wood creaked slightly, but otherwise appeared able to support 300kg of man and metal. "Here's the reward, I'm sure you kiddos were waiting on that." I said, semi-playfully, lifting the burlap sack, jingling as it made contact with the surface of the tabletop. "Interesting that it contains such valuable metals." I finished, somewhat in disbelief.

Watching the teens excitedly rummage through the burlap sack, I expected them to split the reward amongst themselves. Curiously, however, they pulled out 4 gold coins then abruptly stopped; I raised an eyebrow in confusion as they took a moment to contemplate before exchanging looks and nodding, as though they came to some silent agreement.

Wizard girl cleared her throat. "Merc, we all acknowledge that you are entirely the sole reason for our survival and success of the quest. Atop of saving us from that bear and those murderous bandits, we've come to agreement that you should have the remaining coins." she said, pushing up her glasses, clearly a signature thing. "As our way of giving thanks for your assistance and guidance." she finishes, the others nodding in agreement.

"Yeah. We would have been goners without you." admits Warrior, rubbing the back of his head visibly embarrassed.

"It wouldn't feel right if we didn't," says Fighter. "Especially considering you did most of the work."

I looked around at the group, initially in confusion then contemplation, turning to the Priestess who blushed nervously then gave a small, endearing smile. I chuckled, amused by the gesture. "You kids, don't sell yourselves short now." I said, turning my attention back to the whole group, speaking with some degree of encouragement. "Sure, there were some bumps along the road but once you leveled your heads and coordinated as a unit, you proved to be competent and capable practitioners of the field. Let this be a lesson of the many hazards in the world and how to properly prepare and react when things go downhill." I lectured, calmly. "You go ahead, split what's there. "

Expectedly, the teens eyes widened in surprise, completely baffled by my polite refusal of the offer. They exchanged contemplative looks with one another, unsure of what to think or say, in their mind they might not have expected I'd decline, maybe due to my occupation.

"A-Are you sure?" stuttered Warrior, stunned.

"Yeah. I mean you're the reason we were successful." chimed Fighter, in a similar tone.

"So even despite that notion, you decline the reward?" added Wizard, less expressive but still notably conflicted.

"Even after everything you've done?" squeaked Priestess, her mousy voice shrouded with guilt.

I held my hand up in a dismissive manner and chuckled. " Look, it's fine. Don't let your conscience get the better of you." I explained, trying to ease whatever feelings of guilt or shame they expressed. "Besides, you kids could use those coins far more than I'd ever need them. I have all I require on me, and if need be I can get other materials through my own means. Just be sure to invest that in better gear if you plan on being a successful adventurer, otherwise spend it as you wish." I said, beginning to lift myself up from the table with the intent of departing. "Unfortunately, this is where we part ways."

"Wh-Where are you going? Are you leaving?" asked Warrior, frantically.

"He was pretty adamant about going solo after he brought us back." informed Fighter, disappointment recognizable in her voice.

"It's nothing personal, this was an experience to be sure." I said, doing my best to tend the teens emotions while maintaining a professional status. "In regards to the nature of my profession and the ensuing endeavors, I prefer to resume my original status quo and proceed with independent operation." I explained, my tone becoming more grave as I moved further away from the table area. "Besides, the type of objects I seek have garnered me more enemies than I can count. And considering the scope and magnitude of hazards I've weathered, it would be an understatement to say my 'field' is beyond dangerous even for the strongest men, let alone for mere children."

"Will we ever see you again?" asked a mousey voice, saddened.

"Can you promise we can go on another quest together?!" asked Warrior, sounding as if he jumped from his seat.

Briefly halting in my tracks, I glanced over to Priestess. "I'll be around." I replied, beginning to set off again, answering Warrior as I went. "I'll consider it-if I'm not too busy."

Undoubtedly I was adamant in parting ways and continuing on solo, that much was for sure. Truth be told, I initially had zero intention of associating myself with those kids and to say I was hundred percent on board with being an escort would have been a lie-however through my intense albeit short travel with them I found it wasn't as intolerable as I might have anticipated. The decision to save those kids in the cave and the trek that ensued afterward unquestionably set me back, not to mention threw a wrench into my almost untainted incognito status-yet to say it didn't kindle some dormant warm sensation wouldn't have been entirely untrue. I did feel a spark of satisfaction-hopefully it came back to bite me in the ass or jeopardize those now associated with me. As I contemplated this, making my way to the door, I glanced out of my periphery to the front desk, watching the Guild girl finish speaking with some visiting adventurers; I could see her catching sight of me and waving me over. I initially wanted to roll my eyes, because of another delay but then immediately remembered the items I collected from the shed- the jar and that notebook.

" sir could I speak with you for a moment?" she asked, calling out while continuing to wave me over.

"I suppose." I replied, glancing over my shoulder, beginning to walk my way towards the front desk. I was certain she called me over because of the details I wrote down in the report. I stopped just in front of the counter waiting for her to express whatever concern she might have had. "Go ahead, speak."

Frozen briefly,initially nervous, she spoke. "Yes, why I called you over. My apologies for delaying you." she said, still somewhat nervous, clearing her throat. "With regards to your quest report. I saw that one of the notable events you wrote down was of a rather-brutal incursion with a group of bandits during your travels through the nearby forest. Can you describe the appearance of any prominent members? Were there any survivors?"

I nodded confirmingly. "There were two men that immediately stood out." I informed her, monotone. "The first to introduce themself was the leader of the band- a man with short dark-graying hair, crewcut, mid forties, average height and medium build, grizzled and weathered face; he was a chatty fellow, probably pretty cunning too but not as hardened as his appearance suggested. His 2nd in command, lieutenant, was different. He had a presence and appearance that might've made you think he was the leader. Silver-haired, icy-blue eyes, more slender build but taller, smoother pale skin and angular facial structure. That bastard was much more hands on, cold and imminated malice; he wouldn't have hesitated to slit Priestess if it only meant to satiate his own sadism."

Her eyes widened and her mouth went agape, shocked. "Oh my I-I didn't know it escalated that far." she said, her eyes then widening again in sudden realization. "Those men you just described-they were the ringleaders of a once larger gang. A few years ago they had some run-ins with government forces and adventurers tasked to hunt them down; the surviving members managed to slip through the cracks and escape to the woods. Since then those despicable troublemakers hid in the bowels of the forest, preying on unwary travelers- unaffiliated civilians and adventurers alike, stealing possessions and killing the victims. Dozens of innocent people have died because of them."

"That shouldn't be an issue anymore." I said, coldly. "I killed every last one of those bastards. Leader tried to-flee but blew him in half."

She blinked a few times, seemingly speechless. "That-that's. . .I don't know what to say." she commented, sounding shocked. "A-Anyway, it comforts me to hear those morally corrupt bandits were taken care of-as much as I hate violence it was undoubtedly necessary." she says, proceeding to reach under the counter again.

"What are you doing?" I asked, confused.

There's a jangle as she pulls out a burlap sack, noticeably larger than the one rewarded for the goblin extermination. It makes another jangle and clank as she plops it onto the counter.

"It's a reward for the quest." she stated, clasping her hands and smiling brightly. "A few months back, a government treasury representative visited the guild, traveling all the way back from the kingdom's capital. They sent a convoy, delivering several loads of coins as a compensation package for a number of quests that the government was unable to deal with. Dispatching those bandits was one of the quests." she explained.

"I see. How much?" I asked, partially curious.

"20 gold coins and 45 silver coins. 65 total." she said, gesturing her hand towards it in a presenting manner.

"That's a hefty amount. Damn heavy I bet." I replied, plainly.

"Indeed." she said, maintaining a bright smile. Soon her smile faded into a more troubled expression, as though something else was bothering her. And I already knew what it was. But I needed to go. "Merc I have something else I. . ."

I raised a hand gesture, interjecting. "I understand however I need to go." I informed her, speaking in a polite and professional tone, admittedly feeling a bit antsy. "Before I go I have a couple items that might be of use to you." I said, proceeding to grab the notebook from the compartment on my back as well as untie the burlap sack on my utility belt. I gently laid both of the items on the counter next to the sack of coins; I nodded, turning my back and beginning to walk away.

"I see-oh wait. Merc you forgot your-"

"I don't need it. Give it to those kids." I interjected, waving her off as I went. On my way to the door, I briefly turned my sight to the teens who were still seated at the table. Only took one of them to see me before the rest began waving back; I could tell there was some residual disappointment in their faces though Priestess in particular appeared notably distraught even saddened. Though I felt some pity, I gave a nod in farewell as I continued to carry on. Despite any residual feelings, I maintained a focus mind and was set on journeying off on my own-as should be. As I got to a halfway point between the front desk and the entrance door, I immediately picked up two more blips on motion tracker as well as the voices of a man and woman originating just outside the building. Narrowing my eyes in anticipation, I watch the large split door being pushed open and two more individuals pop into view. One was that salmon haired girl in overalls I saw earlier and the other was a male of medium height wearing some kind of ragged, light-weight armor, he looked like the equivalent of a viking knight, the piece standing out the most was the horned, vertical slit visor helmet that obscured his face. I wasn't sure but there was something that struck me about him. Then I hear it.

"Welcome back!" I heard the receptionist call out, her tone indicating she was familiar with the individual.

The armored male and his female companion halted in their tracks just at the moment I did. His companion recoiled, widening her eyes stunned and somewhat intimidated-however her armored friend remained unfazed and his expression unreadable, hidden underneath his helmet-like my own.

"Who are you?" I asked him, monotone but notably curious.

"They call me Goblin slayer." he replied, in a flat, emotionless voice.


End file.
